Middle East peace talks - Hamas must be part of the solution

1.23.28pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 27th Nov 2007

Ahead of today's Middle East peace process summit in Washington and Annapolis, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Michael Moore MP, has written to the Foreign Secretary to urge a new strategy for dealing with Hamas. The US secretary of state met Israeli and Palestinian negotiators over the weekend to try to bridge gaps between them before this week's conference.

Michael Moore said "Any agreement reached at the summit is likely to be undermined by the international community's wilful disregard of the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Like it or not, tackling the crisis in Gaza will require a new approach with Hamas as part of the solution, as it remains the area's only viable authority able to disperse international aid. Expectations for this summit are understandably muted given the lack of progress in recent years, but all the parties must seize this opportunity to put the peace process back on track."