Israeli and Palestinian officials are set to sign agreements on Sunday to facilitate holding Palestinian presidential elections in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, official Palestinian sources said Saturday.

The sources said that Israel had promised to ease restrictions for the Palestinians to participate in the Jan. 9 elections.

Under the agreements the two sides reached in meetings last week, the Israeli army would carry out a gradual withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories for the elections to go smoothly, sources said.

They agreed to set up two joint liaison offices at Erez Crossingon the borders between northern Gaza Strip and Israel, and a third at Beit Eil in the West Bank.

Palestinian police and Israeli army officers will be staying at these offices to solve immediately any problem that could emerge.

They also agreed that Palestinian residents in east Jerusalem would be voting at the post offices as they did in the last elections held in 1996. 

Source: Xinhua