Former President Jimmy Carter has said Syria and Hamas must be involved in any future peace deal in the Middle East. Carter made the statement during a stop in the West Bank.

Jimmy Carter: “I don’t think that it’s possible to have an ultimate peace agreement here without the involvement of Syria. The Golan Heights issue has to be resolved. Syria has to be friendly toward Israel, not an enemy. And I don’t think it’s possible without involving Hamas. I don’t care if Hamas represents ten percent of the Palestinian people or 42 percent or 44 percent. It doesn’t matter to me. But to have them completely excluded even from conversations or consultations, I think, is counterproductive.”

On Tuesday, Jimmy Carter laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat and met with a leading figure in Hamas. Carter is hoping to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal soon in Damascus. Carter wanted to visit Gaza, but Israeli officials denied him entry. Carter’s trip was been widely criticized in Israel and Washington. Democratic Congressman Howard Berman, the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused Carter of undermining US policy. Hamas officials have welcomed Carter’s trip.

Ayman Taha, Hamas official: “The former American president, Mr. Carter, sent us an invitation for a meeting in Cairo. We in Hamas welcome this invitation, since we see it as a platform to reach the highest number possible of well-known persons and high-profile people in the world in order to inform them about what the Palestinian case is going through and the catastrophic situation the Palestinian people are being faced with.”

Meanwhile, in Gaza, at least three Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians died in fighting earlier today.