RAMALLAH (AP): It's back-to-back bad news for Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's stepped-up army raids in West Bank cities are embarrassing the moderate Palestinian leader, and 150,000 civil servants won't get full salaries this month.

Abbas had hoped Israeli troops would gradually step aside as he takes control of more West Bank areas. He had also banked on a recovery of the battered Palestinian economy, with the help of $7.7 billion in aid that the international community has promised the Palestinians over three years.

However, Israel keeps sending troops into Palestinian population centers because it believes his forces are not doing enough to squash the Islamic militant Hamas. And the failure of some donor countries to pay up has resulted in a budget shortfall.