Abbas calls it quits; Israel bombs Gaza City home in failed attack on Hamas leadership

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A disillusioned Mahmoud Abbas resigned as prime minister Saturday after a four-month power struggle with Yasser Arafat, leaving Israel and the United States without a negotiating partner and prompting calls by some top Israeli officials to expel Arafat.

Just hours later, an Israeli warplane dropped a 550-pound bomb on a Gaza City apartment in a botched attempt to kill several top Hamas leaders, including the Islamic militant group's founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who escaped with a minor injury.

Saturday's dramatic events dealt the most severe blow in months to U.S.-led peace efforts: wrangling over an Abbas successor could freeze the troubled ''road map" peace plan for weeks or months, and the attack on Yassin could provoke more Hamas suicide bombings and Israeli reprisals.

Israel declared a state of high alert Saturday, bracing for more attacks.

Yassin was the highest-ranking Palestinian leader ever targeted by Israel, and top fugitives, including Mohammed Deif, No. 1 on Israel's wanted list, were also in the room, security officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Israel saw Abbas' resignation as a power vacuum in which it felt compelled to act immediately against Hamas.

''No Hamas official is immune," said Israeli Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir, adding that ''there will be other chances" to go after Hamas leaders.

In Ramallah, there was confusion throughout the day about whether Arafat had accepted Abbas' resignation -- and if he had, whether his decision was final.

The veteran Palestinian leader had told a large gathering of legislators and Cabinet ministers that Abbas was now heading a caretaker government, implying Arafat agreed with his prime minister's decision. But he stopped short of confirming this in writing, as required by law.

An Abbas confidante, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prime minister told him he felt abandoned by all sides and was deeply hurt by the events of the recent days.

Abbas told a closed-door session of parliament that he would not change his mind. Reading from a prepared statement, he explained why he quit. Israel, he said, had not carried out its obligations under the road map, the United States had not enforced Israeli compliance and his detractors at home had constantly undermined him with ''harsh and dangerous" incitement.

His resignation -- if it stands -- is not necessarily a victory for Arafat, whose international standing is likely to slip even further, particularly if he is perceived as having engineered Abbas' ouster. Israel might be more likely now to make good on threats to expel Arafat.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, a member of the Israeli security Cabinet, said Israel has refrained from kicking out Arafat at the request of the United States. ''Maybe the White House will have second thoughts now, and then we'll have to consider Arafat's presence again," he said.

Abbas' decision to quit apparently caught the Bush administration by surprise. As late as Friday, Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted that progress was being made in implementing the road map.

Arafat was to meet with leaders of his Fatah movement and legislators today to consider the next move. One option is to try to reappoint Abbas. This would allow Arafat to strip the Abbas Cabinet of those he doesn't support.