GAZA (Reuters) – Thousands of Hamas members voted in a secret internal ballot in the Gaza Strip that re-elected the Islamist group’s most prominent leaders to its highest bodies and signaled no change in policy.

GAZA (Reuters) – Eleven Palestinians including a pro-al Qaeda militant and a child were killed on Tuesday in overnight gun battles in the Gaza Strip, Hamas police officials said.

The new US military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, has said that recent security gains there are “fragile and reversible”.