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Rice Seeks to Marginalize Hamas
[Los Angeles Times] Ashraf Khalil - Secretary of State Rice on Monday expressed hope that a successfully negotiated vision of a Palestinian state would marginalize the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. "There will have to come a time when the Palestinian people will have to decide whether the prospect of that state is in their interest, and I think they will decide that it is," Rice said after meeting with Mahmoud Abbas. "But people are going to have to accept that it means accepting the existence of Israel and the right of Israel to exist." Rice repeatedly called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, but made it clear that Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction, would have no role in the upcoming negotiations. "We've been very clear what the criteria are for involvement in this process," she said. "If you're going to have a two-state solution, you have to accept the right of the other party to exist. If you're going to have a two-state solution that is born of negotiation, you're going to have to renounce violence."