Arafat considers postponing elections

Rabbi, 2 purported Islamic Jihad members killed in Gaza

The Palestinian Election Committee recommends Arafat delay the January 20 election.

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RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Against a backdrop of seemingly never-ending cycle of violence and death, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is considering whether to postpone elections scheduled for late January, according to Hanna Nasser, the head of the Palestinian Election Committee.

An Israeli rabbi was shot and killed Friday while traveling in southern Gaza, according to Israeli settlers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the area, and two Palestinians were killed during an IDF incursion into the Dir al-Balah refugee camp in central Gaza. Israeli military sources said the two were members of Islamic Jihad.

The IDF said the Palestinians were killed when soldiers shot back at Palestinians who shot at them. The IDF also said 10 Palestinians were arrested, including activists from Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Palestinian hospital sources said one of the dead Palestinians was a policeman, Jamal Musa, who bled to death because ambulances could not reach him.

Seven tanks and two helicopters were used in the incursion, Palestinian sources said.

In Gaza, settlers said the rabbi was in his car with his wife and six children when Palestinians opened fire from a nearby house.

Arafat met with the election committee Friday at his headquarters in Ramallah, and heard its recommendation that elections scheduled for January 20 should be postponed until 100 days after Israel withdraws its troops from Palestinian towns.

Arafat still has to decide on whether to accept or reject the recommendation.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat blamed the Israelis for the delay.

"The Israeli government has obstructed all our efforts to begin preparations for the elections," Erakat said. "It is very unfortunate that the Palestinian people will not be able to hold the elections. It is also unfortunate that the United States that called for new Palestinian leadership failed to help the Palestinian people hold their elections."

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