GAZA—Mediation by Qatar's foreign minister failed to resolve a row between feuding Palestinian leaders, bringing closer the possibility of fresh elections, a senior aide to President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday.
A stalemate between Abbas and the Hamas-led government over forming a unity government has triggered the worst internal fighting in a decade and stirred fears of civil war.
"The differences on the core issues have remained ... It does not seem as if we are closer to an agreement," aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said after overnight talks in Gaza involving Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani.
"This initiative is the last political effort that is being exerted and the opportunity must be seized because the alternative is to hold early elections."
Abed Rabbo said talks failed because of Hamas's stance toward Israel, which the group is sworn to destroy. Hamas says it will never recognize Israel.
Ahmed Youssef, a senior aide to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, said the Islamist movement rejected two points in proposals presented by Sheikh Hamad. This included agreeing to a two-state solution to resolve the conflict with Israel.
"As Islamists we cannot accept this and any proposal that includes this means we're heading towards a deadlock," Youssef told Reuters.
Palestinians hope formation of a unity government will lift crippling Western sanctions imposed on the Hamas government for refusing to renounce violence, recognize Israel, and abide by interim peace deals with the Jewish state.
Elections
Hamas scored a surprise win over Abbas's Fatah movement, which seeks a negotiated peace with Israel, in January parliamentary elections.
Fifteen people have been killed in clashes since talks on a coalition government floundered, the worst internal violence since the start of Palestinian self-rule in 1994.
Palestinian politicians said the Qatari proposals included forming a government of so-called technocrats and convening a meeting between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
Abbas aides said Meshaal provided Sheikh Hamad with a counter-proposal by Hamas that included no recognition of Israel nor acceptance of a temporary technocrat government. "Abbas was furious and rejected the Hamas paper," one senior aide said.
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