Sunni gunmen seized control of a remote village northeast of Baghdad in a fierce battle with residents who pleaded for rescue by Iraqi army and police as they tried to defend their homes, the deputy provincial governor said Tuesday.

The foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt postponed until July 25 their first visit to Israel on behalf of the Arab League to revive a long-stalled Arab peace initiative, officials said on Tuesday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Tuesday for an international force in the Gaza Strip, which is now controlled by the rival Hamas movement.