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Palestinians protested on Friday and diplomats expressed disappointment over President Mahmoud Abbas's decision to postpone long-awaited elections.
The votes were
called after
an agreement between Mr Abbas's secular Fatah movement, which controls the West Bank and its long-standing rival Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip coastal enclave.
The Palestinian Central Elections Commission said it was suspending the election process after Mr Abbas's decision. Campaigning was supposed to begin on Friday.
Hamas said the postponement was a "coup against partnership" and Mr Abbas "would bear full responsibility for the decision and its consequences".
Protesters in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah denounced the president's move.