[JURIST] Israel's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody would not be eligible to vote in Paletinian elections scheduled for January 9. Chief Justice Aharon Barak said that Israel would not have time at this stage to prepare for including the prisoners in existing voting procedures. The ruling is not yet available online. The Jerusalem Post provides local coverage. Reuters has more.

12:43 PM ET - Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs Hisham Abd al-Raziq has condemned the ruling as illegal and simply a reflection of Israeli government policy: "It's a fundamental right for all Palestinians to participate in this election. This decision violates Palestinian human rights, but we will work to guarantee the participation of all prisoners in the parliamentary elections." Aljazeera has more.