Involving all parties
83. In our last Report we argued that ways should
be found to engage rather than isolate Hamas, noting that Hamas
had participated in and won a majority in the internationally
supervised parliamentary elections which took place in early 2006.
We observed that:
"In other situations, ways have been
found of UK representatives talking to those with whom we have
profound and justifiable disagreements because we talk to them
in their capacity as elected representatives, not in their capacity
as representatives of a particular party or faction. Finding ways
of achieving this in this case need not mean a dilution of the
international community's insistence that Israel has the unqualified
right to recognition and security within legitimate borders any
more than our talking to the Government of Israel means endorsing
its continued occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and
Gaza."[131]
However, in its reply to our Report, the Government
argued that:
"The international community is asking
no more of the Hamas-led Government than it has of its predecessors
namely: renounce violence, recognise Israel, and accept previous
agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap. The UK is ready
to engage with any government that is prepared to reflect these
three principles in its policies."[132]
The Carnegie Endowment has questioned
the wisdom of this approach:
"It is unrealistic to expect a total
repudiation by Hamas of its vision of an Islamic state, but it
is possible to work toward a situation in which the movement's
leaders are compelled to accept that the logic of events is leading
in a direction they are powerless to stop (as actually happened
for a brief period in the 1990s)."[133]
Circumstances have changed since our last Report.
Despite the appointment of a Palestinian National Unity Government
in the spring of 2007, relations between Hamas and Fatah continued
to deteriorate, culminating in the Hamas armed takeover of Gaza
in June, the dismissal of the existing ministers by President
Abbas and their replacement by a new government to be led by Salaam
Fayyad.
84. The armed takeover of Gaza by Hamas was neither
justified nor acceptable and the international community has recognized
the government appointed by President Abbas as having jurisdiction
over both the West Bank and Gaza. However, a significant section
of Palestinian society still supports Hamas and the majority of
serving members of the Palestinian Legislative Council were democratically
elected on the Hamas-sponsored list in 2006. It is still the case
that without some kind of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah,
and without international engagement of all stakeholders, the
peace process will not succeed.
85. We note that a similar view was reached by the
our colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee in their Report
on Global Security: The Middle East, published in August
2007 after the Hamas takeover in Gaza. In welcoming the appointment
of Tony Blair as the representative of the Quartet, the Foreign
Affairs Committee recommended "That he engage with Hamas
in order to facilitate reconciliation amongst the Palestinians."[134]
86. The Quartet
and the UK Government have supported the Annapolis Peace conference
in the face of what appears to many to be a difficult, if not
impossible situation—increased attacks by both Israel and
Palestinian groups over the last year, the lack of Palestinian
unity, a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, continued obstacles to movement
and access, the construction of the Barrier on occupied land and
the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. Whilst it is important
to be optimistic in situations of ongoing conflict the international
community must do more to ensure that all parties address these
issues if a peace deal is to be credible.
87. The international
community must also do more to ensure that these issues are addressed
in practice as well as in theory. The Quartet is right to insist
that a lasting settlement must be based on both Israel and Palestine
recognizing each other's right to exist, on an end to violence
and on acceptance by both parties of existing agreements. Following
the Hamas victory in the parliamentary elections of 2006, the
Quartet decided that acceptance of these principles would become
a precondition to its even having any dialogue with any Palestinian
government which included Hamas. This approach has achieved very
little in the last two years and has contributed to increasing
tension between Hamas and Fatah. The Hamas armed takeover of
Gaza was neither justified nor acceptable and the international
community is right to recognize the government of the West Bank
and Gaza appointed by President Abbas. However, it remains important
to bring Hamas into dialogue and into the peace process. The current
truce between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt provides the
opportunity to do that. We urge the UK Government and the international
community to seize this opportunity.
119 
