Four Hamas candidates running for the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections were arrested in East Jerusalem on Sunday, local daily Ha'aretz said.

The four were arrested when they were trying to rally in East Jerusalem, the report said.

The arrests came just hours after the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved a proposal by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to participate in the elections set on Jan. 25.

However, the cabinet barred Hamas, a radical militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, from taking part in the elections, which boycotted the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in 1996 citing opposition to the Oslo Accords.

The cabinet's decision drew immediate condemnation from Hamas, which said it would carry through with its election campaigns in its own ways.

Voters in East Jerusalem will cast their ballots at post offices, as in the 1996 parliamentary elections and the January 2005 presidential elections.

According to estimates, only 1,000 East Jerusalem residents will vote in the elections.

Israel has voiced concerns over Hamas' participation in the elections, insisting that Hamas be disarmed first.

Source: Xinhua