"Something has to be done to revive the peace process," said Ziad Abu Amr, a prominent Palestinian lawmaker and a political moderate.

"Even if there were no elections, the process is frozen," said Ziyad Abu Zayyad, a Palestinian lawmaker from Jerusalem.

A Palestinian lawmaker, Hanan Ashrawi, one of those pressing hardest for reforms, said Saturday that Mr. Arafat now appeared committed to a vote.

Jamal Tirawi (born 1966) is a Palestinian lawmaker.

Mr. Arafat had been under pressure since last year from Palestinian lawmakers to root out corruption and mismanagement from within his Palestinian Authority.

When Palestinian lawmakers gathered in Ramallah to address the crisis, they, too, opted for an indirect approach.

At Monday's session, 20 of the 132 Palestinian lawmakers were absent.

Fourteen of the new Palestinian lawmakers are in Israeli jails, including 10 from Hamas.

The Palestinian lawmakers scheduled the Monday session to deal with the lawlessness.

Ziyad Abu Zayyad, a Palestinian lawmaker from East Jerusalem, said rising tensions were bound to lead to a conflagration.