The European Union's top diplomat says the ruling Hamas movement has missed a perfect chance to form a Palestinian unity government with its rival, Fatah.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke Saturday after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On Friday, Abbas said talks this week between Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government had collapsed.
Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a power struggle since Hamas won the Palestinian election in January.
Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognize Israel. It is considered a terrorist group by the European Union, the United States and Israel.
In other news, Palestinian security officials say an Israeli navy boat fired on a Palestinian fishing boat off the Gaza Strip. Security officials say no one was hurt.
The Israeli military says it is not aware of the incident.
Palestinians say it is the first Israeli violation of a week-old ceasefire in Gaza.
The truce calls for Palestinian militants to halt rocket attacks against Israel in exchange for a withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end of military activity in Gaza.
Palestinian militants have fired several rockets at Israel since the ceasefire agreement began.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.