Mahmoud Abbas was on Friday urged to revoke his decision not to run in the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, amid concern that his withdrawal from the political scene could deal a fatal blow to the fast-diminishing prospects for peace in the region.

Leaders from Mr Abbas’s own Fatah party and from the Palestine Liberation Organisation said they were trying to convince him to stay on. Fatah activists also staged rallies in support of their president in at least three towns in the occupied West Bank.