Ramallah, West Bank ? The rival Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have clamped down harder on opponents and critics in recent months — deepening a nasty split that could prevent Palestinian statehood even if peace talks with Israel kicking off this week succeed against long odds.

New reports by Palestinian rights groups highlight a surprising symmetry in the abuse that the U.S.-backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and his Iranian-supported rivals Hamas in Gaza inflict on each other.

Both governments carry out arbitrary arrests, ban rivals from travel, exclude them from civil service jobs and suppress opposition media, the rights groups say. Torture in both West Bank and Gaza lockups includes beatings and tying up detainees in painful positions.

Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah organization have harassed each other ever since the Islamic militant Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. However, the crackdowns have become more sweeping in recent months as each aims to strengthen its grip on its respective territory.

Just last week, security agents in the West Bank broke up a meeting of independents opposed to Abbas’ decision to resume peace talks with Israel, despite government claims that it only targets militants who pose a security threat. In Gaza, Hamas is pushing legislation that is seen as an attempt to take over and silence the respected Independent Palestinian Commission for Human Rights.

“In both the West Bank and Gaza, we are going toward a … regime in which the security forces intervene in everything,” said Shahwan Jabareen of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq.

For Gaza resident Assad Saftawi, 21, this has meant four stints in detention after writing an article criticizing Hamas for taxing cigarettes. Heart patient Mohammed Nahhal, a Fatah official, says Hamas prevented him from leaving Gaza for a medical checkup in Jordan, even after he obtained Israeli permission to leave the blockaded territory.

In the West Bank, Nawaf Amr, producer for Al Quds TV, a pro-Hamas satellite station, says his West Bank correspondents face frequent harassment, including having tapes seized and being called for interrogation. Hamas supporter Munir Morie, a 25-year-old carpenter, says he was tortured for a month this spring and still suffers from joint pain.

With each incident, the wedge is hammered deeper and the hostility grows between the two halves of what is meant to be a future Palestine, just as the U.S. relaunches Mideast talks at the White House this week in hopes of getting an agreement within a year.

The talks aim to create a Palestinian state, but it appears unlikely any deal could be implemented as long as the split persists, particularly if Hamas — shunned by Israel and the West as a terror organization — remains in charge in Gaza.

In the West Bank, touted by the international community as the cradle of a democratic Palestine, rights violations committed in the name of protecting that vision could end up destroying it, rights activists say.