Blair encourages Hamas involvement

Hamas should be part of the Middle East peace process, according to Tony Blair, former prime minister and Middle East envoy of the Quartet Powers (United States, United Kingdom, Russia and the European Union).

The Times, on their website, published an interview Friday evening between Blair and Ginny Dougary of the Saturday Magazine, in which the former prime minister implicitly criticized the strategy followed by the most recent Israeli and American administrations of focusing all peace and reconstruction efforts on the West Bank.

“It was half of what we needed,” he said. Blair added that the strategy of “pushing Gaza aside” and trying to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank “was never going to work and will never work."

At the same time, he remained cognizant of the fact that collaboration with Hamas is a tricky proposition, which requires certain working conditions to be in place.

"I do think it is important that we find a way of bringing Hamas into this process, but it can only be done if Hamas are prepared to do it on the right terms," Blair said. "If you do this in the wrong way it can destabilize the very people in Palestine who have been working all through for the moderate cause."

With a shaky ceasefire in place after the war in Gaza, efforts are under way to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. 

The West supports the Fatah administration in the West Bank and says it will not talk to Hamas unless it renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

Reuters contributed to this report