US senator visits Gaza, avoids Hamas
US Sen. John Kerry traveled to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, in the highest-level visit by a US official since Hamas seized power nearly two years ago. Kerry did not meet with anyone from Hamas, which the US shuns as a terrorist group, and he used the visit to urge the group to end its violent campaign against Israel.
But the mere presence of the well-known Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee was a possible harbinger of a new US approach in the region. (AP)
