Palestinian Justice Minister Nahedd al Rayess said Monday that Israel should help create a "suitable" atmosphere in the run-up to the Palestinian elections slated for January 9. 

Rayess told the Cairo-based Voice of the Arabs radio that he was concerned about the ongoing Israeli military operations in southern Gaza.

The offensive would not help create the atmosphere needed for holding the Palestinian elections, the minister said.

On whether Palestinians in east Jerusalem would vote, the Palestinian minister said a final decision was yet to be made, but he believed the inhabitants might cast their ballots via mail.

During the past few days, Israel has stepped up its military operation in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis in retaliation for a Palestinian attack last Sunday to an Israeli army base at the Gaza-Egypt crossing, which killed at least four Israeli soldiers and wounded 10 others.

The military escalation has cast a shadow on the upcoming Palestinian elections, which, if going smoothly, will choose a formal successor to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died at a French hospital on November 11.

Seven candidates in Palestinian presidential elections

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission has announced a final list of seven candidates for the Palestinian presidential elections.

The seven candidates are Mahmoud Abbas from the Palestine Liberation Organization, Taysser Khalid, candidate of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Bassam Salhi from the People's Party, and four independent candidates, including Marwan Barghouti.

The candidates will be campaigning from late December to early January to try and win support for their platforms.

The commission is urgently training personnel for the elections.

In another development, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak recently noted that a Palestinian state might be set up before 2008.

US President George W. Bush also said that he believes he can promote peace in the Middle East in his second term.

(Xinhua News Agency, CRI.com December 21, 2004)