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Critics Demand Abbas Resignation

In protest of Israel`s raid on a West Bank prison earlier last week, party officials announce several officials in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas` Fatah Party have called on him to resign and dissolve the Palestinian Authority.

The raid, which Abbas denounced as an insult to his people, was seen by many Fatah officials as a blow to Abbas` prestige. The raid was a response to the pullout of American and British monitors from a prison in the ancient city of Jericho after the UK government repeatedly warned that the Palestinian Authority was not adhering to agreements which kept terrorist suspects in custody there and ensured the monitors` safety.

If the Palestinian government is dissolved, Israel would be forced to step in as an occupying power and assume direct responsibility for the Palestinians, rendering the victory of the Islamic militant Hamas in January parliament elections obsolete.