DHAKA: Martin Indyk, chief US negotiator for Israeli-Palestinian talks, has resigned, State Department officials say.

The US Middle East peace envoy resigned on Friday after the two sides failed to meet their goal of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement.

Indyk's resignation was widely expected. He will return to the Washington-based Brookings Institution think-tank, a US official told Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson, reporting from Ramallah, said Indyk's resignation was no surprise in the Palestinian territories as issues such as the expansion of Israeli settlements in the territories, and the release of Palestinian prisoners had proven too difficult for either side to overcome. Palestinian leaders also signed 15 international treaties in a move that angered Israel.

"The deadline for the talks was the end of April but essentially the talks collapsed well before then so his resignation is no surprise to people here," Ferguson said. 

The announcement of the resignation comes against the backdrop of renewed tensions in the territories.

An Israeli air raid on Friday killed two Palestinians and critically wounded a third in the Gaza Strip, medical officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said.

The attack targeted a car travelling along a coastal road near a beach refugee camp in Gaza, Reuters news agency reported quoting witnesses, reports Al-Jazeera.

One source identified the men as belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees, a network of armed Gaza-based Palestinian groups that has been responsible for firing rockets into southern Israel in the past.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

BDST: 1015 HRS, JUN 28, 2014