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U.S.: Hamas Must Recognize Israel's Right to Exist
(White House) U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said Tuesday in London: "The U.S. very clearly believes that Hamas is a terrorist organization; that until it ceases its use of terrorism and recognizes Israel's right to exist, that they can't be a credible partner for peace....Hamas has in the past indiscriminately targeted innocent women and children and men through the firing of rockets or through bombs on buses. So they certainly share the characteristics of a terrorist organization that has indiscriminately taken civilian life." "We believe that getting the [peace] process going is going to require a credible answer from the Palestinians about the role that Hamas is going to play in the new government, and whether a Palestinian partner and interlocutor can credibly say it recognizes Israel's right to exist and is not committed to engaging in terrorism. So...there is some step that needs to be taken on the Palestinian side to give Israel that confidence coming into the negotiation."