Rice: US will deal with Hamas if it changes policy

The US Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice was asked yesterday Asked about US policy toward Hamas as the ruling government in the Palestinian territories.

Rice said "you can't have a peace process if one party is not committed to peace and continues to use violence. And so our appeal would be to any Palestinian government that they accept those responsibilities of governing."

Rice said that although the United States has declared Hamas a terrorist organization, if it were to make "a strategic choice and renounce violence and recognize the right of Israel to exist" they would find an international community ready to support a Palestinian government devoted to peace.

Hamas has declared strong opposition to recognizing Israel saying Israel as an occupier must first recognize the rights of the Palestinians, a move that can be seen as not compromising any possible Palestinian negotiation position as previously was done by some Palestinians in what Hamas described as imaginary Israeli peace and Israeli pledges as demonstrated by the last 5 years before Hamas came to power.