The top two leaders of Israel and the Palestinians traded barbs Wednesday in the aftermath of Israel’s raid on a Jericho prison. Israeli troops stormed the prison Tuesday after British monitors were removed from guarding five Palestinians accused of murdering a former Israeli cabinet member. Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “Once the inspectors were pulled out against the background of the international agreements–signed–which we were a partner–and the Palestinian Authority was a partner–it became inevitable that we will try and bring to justice the six suspects who were arrested in Jericho.

In Jericho, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas toured the prison and called the raid an “unforgivable crime.” Abbas continued: “What happened without a doubt is an ugly crime which can not be forgiven and a humiliation for the Palestinian people and a clear violation of all the agreements which took place between us and them. From here we don’t only condemn but we consider this more an ugly crime which has led to what it led to. Now kidnapping Saadat and Shobaki and their brothers is illegal.”