JERUSALEM — Salam Fayyad was reappointed prime minister of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority on Tuesday, leading a new government that excludes the authority’s main rival, the Islamist group Hamas.

Mr. Fayyad, an American-educated economist who has gained the trust of the international community, submitted his resignation in March, saying he wanted to help pave the way for a Palestinian unity government with Hamas.

Those efforts have foundered. A fifth round of Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks between Hamas and representatives of the mainstream Fatah movement, the dominant force in the Palestinian Authority, ended inconclusively on Monday.

While the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, is the leader of Fatah, a Palestinian faction at odds with Hamas, Mr. Fayyad is a political independent.

Many members of Fatah felt sidelined by the previous government. The 20-member government sworn in Tuesday includes eight Fatah members, a move meant to assuage such criticism.

Still, members of the Fatah parliamentary bloc refused to participate in the new cabinet, saying it was formed without proper consultation. The eight Fatah ministers do not include any legislators.

The authority of the new government, headquartered in Ramallah, will be largely confined to the West Bank. Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it had no legitimacy.

Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. In June 2007, after a brief but bloody factional war, Hamas seized control of Gaza, routing the pro-Fatah forces loyal to Mr. Abbas.

Separate administrations have governed in the West Bank and Gaza ever since. The political division between the territories has muddied the prospect of achieving a Palestinian state.

Shortly before the new government was sworn in Tuesday evening, a rocket fired by militants in Gaza struck the yard of a house in the Israeli town of Sderot, causing panic and property damage but no physical injury, an army spokeswoman said.

Khaled Abu Aker contributed reporting from Ramallah in the West Bank.

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