Vote in Palestine put off over Israel's refusal to let election officials into Gaza — TV

CAIRO, October 10. /TASS/. Israel has barred members of Palestine’s central election commission from entering the Gaza Strip to prepare for holding parliamentary elections, and this was among the reasons why the vote was postponed, Egypt’s Sada el-Balad television channel reported. The Palestinian National Administration officials currently continue registration of candidates, the report says. The process may be suspended only through an official executive order signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier, the Al Hadath television reported that Palestinian factions, who convened in the Egyptian capital, agreed that elections to the Palestinian legislative council, due in late November, need to be postponed. In early July, Abbas issued an executive order to hold parliamentary elections on November 28. The document contained a call to Palestinians "in Jerusalem, in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip to participate in the free and direct parliamentary elections in order to elect members of the Palestinian legislative council."