U.K. lawmakers urge contact with Hamas

A British Parliament committee criticized the international community’s “West Bank first” policy.

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A British Parliament committee criticized the international community’s “West Bank first” policy.

The House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, in a report released Monday, said Britain’s refusal to speak to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will hinder the peace process, the Washington Post reported.

Hamas assumed control of the Gaza Strip in a violent coup in June but has been virtually ignored by the international community, which has been dealing with the more moderate Fatah faction that is running the West Bank under President Mahmoud Abbas.

“The government should urgently consider ways of engaging politically with moderate elements within Hamas,” the committee said.

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