After surging during a 50-day war with Israel, Hamas' popularity among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank has fallen back and is now nearly even with support for the more moderate Fatah party, a new poll shows. 

The government in Gaza decided on Saturday to re-open Ma'an News Agency's bureau in the Gaza Strip after four months of closure. The decision was taken at a meeting between Haniya and Palestinian faction leaders to discuss renewing unity talks. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement was not represented at the meeting. A spokesman for the Hamas-run government Ihab al-Ghussein said that the government withdrew a complaint against Ma'an from the public prosecution.