Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met Wednesday with two senior US envoys a day before President Barack Obama delivers a speech on US policy in the Middle East.
A statement from Abbas's office said he had briefed Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman on a unity deal between his Fatah party and rivals Hamas.
The reconciliation deal, which calls for a transitional government of independents and elections within a year, has been slammed by Israel and received cautiously by Europe and the United States.
Abbas also stressed peace talks with Israel could not resume without a halt to Israeli settlement construction and a principles to guide negotiations, the statement published by the official news agency WAFA said.
"Abbas said that the Israeli's government's refusal to stop settlement building and to determine clear references for the peace process were the reason that talks have stopped."
Talks between the two sides have been on hold since late September 2010, when a partial Israeli moratorium on settlement building expired.
Israel refused to renew the ban and the Palestinians say they will not hold talks while settlements are being built on land they want for a future state.
Obama is scheduled to deliver on Thursday a speech on US policy in the Middle East after a wave of uprisings in the region.
His speech comes ahead of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and as the Palestinians push forward with plans to seek United Nations recognition for a state in September.
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