Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says talks between his Fatah party and the ruling militant group Hamas on forming a coalition government have broken down.
Mr. Abbas made the comment Wednesday in Ramallah before a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Mr. Abbas' Fatah faction has been locked in a power struggle with Hamas - even as the two sides tried to form a unity government. Fighting between the sides has claimed 12 lives since Sunday.
In other news, Palestinian officials say unidentified gunmen killed a local Hamas leader, Mohammed Odde, as he left a mosque in a West Bank village.
On Tuesday, a militant faction linked to Fatah threatened to kill several Hamas leaders as part of the escalating power struggle.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades warned in a leaflet that it will target exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal and two senior officials in the Palestinian interior ministry.