Gaza - Premier Ehud Olmert has been forced to withdraw his promise to release 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian sources said on Saturday.

According to the sources, the Palestinian Authority (PA) received a message from the caretaker Israeli government saying that "huge pressure was put on Olmert and forced him to review his promise" made to Abbas in Jerusalem last month.

Olmert faced pressure to halt the release of the prisoners until the release of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who is presently in the hands of the Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip

In addition, the internal political situation in Israel, which will witness general elections in early February, also made Olmert unable to resist the pressure.

The release of the 250 prisoners, who are mostly loyal to Abbas' Fatah movement, was to have taken place prior to the Muslim Greater Bairam festival which falls on Monday.

Israel holds more than Palestinian 11,000 prisoners. (dpa)