Former President Jimmy Carter has announced plans to go ahead with his plans to meet with the top leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, in Damascus despite protests from the Israeli government. Carter says he wants to get Hamas to agree to a peaceful resolution of differences, both with the Israelis and the rival Palestinian faction Fatah. Carter is meeting with Palestinian officials today in the West Bank, but Israel has refused to allow him to enter Gaza.

Jimmy Carter: “Well, I haven’t been able to get permission to go into Gaza. I would like to. I asked for permission, but I was turned down. But maybe we can find a way to circumvent that. I was in Sderot yesterday, and I don’t approve of rockets being fired, you know, that might very well hit civilians, and I don’t approve of the killing of innocent people in Gaza either by Israeli bombs and missiles. So that’s what, you know, the Carter Center is — our major purpose is to bring peace to people who are in conflict.”

Israel’s Shin Bet security service has also refused to offer security for Carter’s visit to the occupied West Bank, as is customary during such visits by former US presidents.