GAZA — Initial Palestinian reports late Sunday indicated that the leaders of the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas might have found a way to break a long political deadlock by forming an interim unity government that would be led, at least at first, by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank.

Mr. Abbas, the chief of Fatah, and Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, were meeting in Qatar for talks on how to move forward with reconciliation efforts. Under an accord signed last May, the sides had agreed to form a government of independent technocrats to prepare for elections, but they had been unable to agree on a candidate for the post of prime minister.

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