The Palestinian parliamentary election will be held in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in July, six months after the presidential election, the acting PNA chairman announced on Saturday.

"Palestinians will hold the parliamentary election on July 17," Rawhi Fatouh told reporters, one day before the presidential election.

"Candidates would be eligible to register in early February," he said.

The presidential election will be held on Sunday to choose a successor to late leader Yasser Arafat. Mahmoud Abbas, chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, is the front-runner in the run-up to the election.

Source: Xinhua