WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Alternative means are sometimes needed to achieve conflict resolution when politics stand in the way, former CIA official Paul Pillar told Sputnik in wake of reports that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tried to contact the Palestinian-based Islamic group Hamas in 2012.
“When political constraints make it difficult to talk openly with such an organization, a security or intelligence service that can operate in secret sometimes offers an alternative means of doing so,” Pillar, a former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, said on Tuesday.
“Whether we like it or not, Hamas has been the governing authority for several years in the Gaza Strip and a major political player on matters concerning the Palestinians,” Pillar said.
Pilliar added that it would be impossible “not only to make substantial progress in resolving the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict but also to ameliorate the most destructive aspects of that conflict without somehow talking with Hamas.”
Al Jazeera said it is working with The Guardian newspaper to publish in the coming days a selection of the leaked documents.
Hamas has been considered foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department since 1997, according to a list posted on the US Bureau of Counterterrorism’s website.
