Inside the Gaza government press office, a fresh-faced young woman makes her case in fluent English; outside, scowling bearded officials bark orders at masked militants. In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist movement Hamas that runs it shows two faces. Wearing a brightly coloured veil and smiling broadly, 23-year-old Israa al-Mudallal admits with disarming candour that she still has a lot to learn in her role as Hamas's first-ever spokesperson for the foreign press.

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.

Israel has authorized the young winner of the Arab Idol talent competition to move from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank as a "humanitarian gesture," an official said Tuesday. "General Eitan Dangot, coordinator of government activities in the (Palestinian) territories, accepted a West Bank residence request for Mohammed Assaf," the defence ministry official said. "This will allow his to travel abroad much more easily than from the Gaza Strip," the official explained.