Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah failed to strike an agreement to narrow sharp differences on security issues and ended their latest round of talks overnight, officials said on Thursday. The Hamas-Fatah stand-off, which erupted into warfare in 2007, has damaged their declared cause of regaining occupied land, triggering a scramble by outside powers - Syria, Iran, Washington and Egypt - to influence Palestinian politics.
The talks were the second since September and were designed to address control of the Palestinian security apparatus, which has been divided between the Gaza Strip - controlled by the Islamist Hamas - and the West Bank where Fatah operates.
"We have not reached a deal," Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, whose more secular group is loyal to US-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters in the Syrian capital Damascus. Another Palestinian official said the two sides had also failed to agree on a date for a third round of talks, but declined to give details.
The talks started on Tuesday, with the Fatah delegation including senior intelligence official Majid Farah and deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk leading his group's team.