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Middle East

My Lords, the noble Lord did not hear the Minister correctly. The humanitarian contacts with Hamas are principally through the United Nations and the Red Cross, not directly through the British Government. I acknowledged in a previous debate that there have been some limited consular contacts in the past—for example, about Alan Johnston. Although I take under advisement his suggestion of a tripartite meeting on the commercial issues, I must remind him that at this moment Hamas remains isolated from contacts with most of the international community, so these kinds of proposals are likely to remain on hold until that situation improves.