RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 6 (UPI) -- Palestinian leaders reportedly blame the international community for increased tension between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
Palestinian leaders said the crisis is being fueled by the international community's rejection of the Palestinian "unity government," the Jerusalem Post reported Sunday.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met late Saturday to discuss the crisis between the two parties, the Post said.
"The situation could deteriorate into violence at any moment," said an unnamed PA official, who denied reports Abbas has threatened to resign if the United States and the European Union do not lift financial sanctions imposed on the Palestinians after Hamas assumed power last year.
Meanwhile, PA and Hamas officials said they have rejected a plan by the Bush administration to ease Palestinian movement in the West Bank in return for a halt to the firing of rockets into Israel from Palestine's Gaza Strip.
