Legislators on Sunday called on the British government to initiate contacts with moderates among the Palestinian group Hamas. Most Western states refuse to talk with Hamas, designated by the EU, Israel and the United States as a "terrorist" organization.
In a report released by the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, legislators said not talking to Hamas has achieved little. Committee chairman Mike Gapes said, “We see few signs that the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas is achieving the Quartet's stated objectives…We therefore reiterate our recommendation from 2007, that the government should urgently consider engaging with moderate elements within Hamas.”
“We further conclude that the credible peace process for which the Quartet hopes, as part of its strategy for undercutting Hamas, is likely to be difficult to achieve without greater cooperation from Hamas itself,” he added.
The report also called it “regrettable” that UK-supplied military items were “almost certainly” used by Israel in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year, a conflict that the report blamed on both Hamas and Israel.
