Developments: Former President and Nobel Peace Laureate Jimmy Carter met with Hamas officials in Gaza on Tuesday. He toured Gaza with Ismail Haniya and met exiled leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus. Hamas forms the civil government of the Strip, but is also officially considered a terrorist organization by the US government. The exchange is causing consternation in the State Department. According to a foreign policy insider, "They are very pissed with him." Nevertheless, Carter's self assigned mission is to explore opportunities for engagement between Hamas and the U.S. government. Official US negotiator, George Mitchell, said Hamas is welcome to join peace talks if they meet the requirements of a "democratic dialogue" which he clarified to mean the so-called Quartet conditions: renounce terror, recognize Israel, and abide by past agreements. Hamas has made public comments indicating it wants a softening of Washington's preconditions to joining talks. Hamas welcomes the attention of the former president as a way of opening communications with the new US administration, even though Carter is viewed in some conservative and Zionist quarters as eccentric. While in Gaza Carter spoke forcefully against the continued economic blockade of the 140 sq. mile enclave by Israel saying the 2 year old blockade has brought "death, destruction, pain and suffering to the people here". Despite being pleased with Carter's visit, Hamas deputy foreign minister Ahmed Youssef, rejected his call for recognition of Israel on Wednesday. As long as the two sides continue to value ideological purity over reality, the human suffering will continue.{6/15/09}In a speech at a university yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel could accept a Palestinian state on its borders, but refused to freeze Israeli settlements on the West Bank. He expressly conditioned acceptance of Palestinian statehood on a single Palestinian government that does not include Hamas, the organization which controls Gaza, and a united Jerusalem. The acceptance of Palestinian statehood is almost insignificant when compared to the conditions imposed by Netanyahu, but like acceptance of the existence of Israel by the Arabs, the issue has been continuously raised as a stumbling block to further peace negotiations. The US administration said in response that it would continue to press the Israeli government on the settlements issue. Netanyahu in his speech attempted to cloak the strategy of incremental Jewish assimilation of the West Bank as "the need to allow the residents to lead normal lives, to allow mothers and fathers to raise their children". As the map at left demonstrates, Israel has increased the size of its state continuously since 1947. Arabs are unlikely to accept a "united Jerusalem", either since East Jerusalem is viewed as the eventual capital of a Palestinian state, historically majority Arab, and controlled by Arab armies from 1949 to 1967. A senior Palestinian negotiator remarked after the speech that the peace process has been moving at tortoise speed. He quipped, "Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back."