Reconciliation talks between rival factions Hamas and Fatah due to be held in China this month have been delayed and no new date has been set, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials said on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency.
After hosting a meeting of the two factions in April, China said Fatah - which is led by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas - and Hamas had expressed the will to seek reconciliation through unity talks in Beijing.
Officials from Fatah and Hamas had previously said the follow-up meeting would be in mid-June.
Fatah and Hamas traded blame over the delay in the talks.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim, who attended the previous meeting, told Reuters Fatah had requested an indefinite delay.
Fatah spokesperson Abdel Fattah Dawla, however, said his movement had not rejected the invitation to meet but had held discussions with the Chinese ambassador about the proposed date in light of he what he described as escalating Israeli aggression and "the complexities of events".
An alternative date had been proposed, but Hamas had responded by refusing to take part, Dawla said.
A Hamas official denied this account, saying the movement had not rejected another meeting.
Hamas and Fatah, which is the faction of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have been at odds since 2007, when Hamas violently took control of Gaza in a bloody coup.
A unity government between Hamas and Fatah collapsed in 2015 when PA chairman Abbas decided to dissolve it amid a deepening rift between the sides.
Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in October of 2017, as part of which Hamas was to transfer power in Gaza by December 1 of that year.
That deadline was initially put back by 10 days and later reportedly hit “obstacles”. It has never been implemented.
China’s offer to mediate between the sides is part of its efforts to be more involved in the Middle East.
China has more than once offered to mediate talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but has also expressed support for a two-state solution.
In 2013, China presented a four-point proposal for a solution to the Israel-PA conflict. The Chinese proposal focused on an independent Palestinian state, negotiations as the only way to peace, the principle of "land for peace", and on guarantees the international community should provide for the progress of the peace process.