Despite deal, Hamas force still on Gaza streets

The Hamas-led government's 3,000-member private security force remained on Gaza's streets on Thursday with no sign of any withdrawal despite a high-profile deal with the rival Fatah movement to remove it from public areas. The Hamas government agreed to pull back its force in an Egyptian-mediated agreement Wednesday aimed at halting weeks of bloody infighting. A spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior ministry, Khaled Abu Hilal, claimed the force had been repositioned, but there was no change on the ground. Black-clad gunmen stood guard on street corners throughout the coastal strip, at times shifting positions but remaining in full public view.