Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nicholas Winterton (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 7 February 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Palestinian Elections

Question: I warmly support what the Foreign Secretary has said in response to the questions put to him on this subject. Does he believe that it is absolutely essential for the long-term possibility of peace and stability in the middle east for the western powers, including this country, to maintain a positive ongoing dialogue with Hamas, which has taken over the Parliament in the Palestinian Authority; and, in addition, that we must maintain the help and aid to the Palestinian people while ensuring, as I believe that he has highlighted in his answers so far, that none of that aid will in any way be adapted to assist terrorism against Israel?

Answer: None of us has any interest whatever in, as it were, punishing the Palestinian people for giving the ““wrong”” answer in those elections. We are very conscious of that. They were free and fair elections and we have to respect the decisions of the Palestinian people. At the same time, nor can we gratuitously reward Hamas if it carries on with active support of terrorism and violence. That is why the Quartet has come to a very responsible and cautious position. Aid that was being paid anyway continues to be paid. The ball is in the court of Hamas. We are not expecting it to stand on its head and abandon overnight every position that it has held in the past. We are expecting from it, however, some clear indications of the direction in which it wishes to travel. As to formal discussions with Hamas, insofar as any discussions took place between representatives of the British Government and Hamas, they were suspended some time ago. Whether they could be reopened would depend on the indications that we had of movement by Hamas.

Secondary information