British parliamentarians are making increasingly vociferous calls for their government to open negotiations with Hamas ‘moderates’ to bring new life into the Palestinian Israeli peace process. The Commons foreign affairs committee has repeated a criticism, first made two years ago, that the policy of non-engagement with Hamas is failing. We are concerned that the Quartet is continuing to fail to provide Hamas with greater incentives to change its position," the committee said, contrasting the decision to engage Hezbollah in Lebanon with the unwillingness to talk to Hamas. The U.K., like a number of Western nations, has refused to engage Hamas until it accepts the principles set down by the international Quartet – the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia – among them non-violence and an acceptance of theexistence of the State of Israel. Hamas responded by reiterating the movement’s willingness to speak with any country "except the Zionist entity" but rejected the idea that its leadership could be split into moderates and extremists.