JERUSALEM (EJP)---A group of members of the European Parliament have met for the first time in Gaza on Tuesday with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in what is seen as a break with the EU’s policy to boycott Hamas.

The EU considers Hamas a terrorist organisation because it has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombing attacks.

The EU does not recognize the new Palestinian national unity government between Fatah and Hamas because it has not yet responded to international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements.

"There are steady and confident steps towards lifting the siege," Haniyeh said after meeting with about 10 European parliamentarians.

One of the parliamentarians who took part in the meeting, Cypriot Kyriacos Triantaphyllides said the EU should deal with the unity government.

"Our visit here is very symbolic,” Triantaphyllides, who is the president of the European Parliament committee for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, told journalists. 

"We consider this as an opportunity for the road to peace," he added.
Caroline Lucas, an British MEP said EU member states and the European Commission "put us under pressure not to do it."

EU's policy unchanged

A European Union spokeswoman said the EU’s policy of shunning Hamas remains unchanged. "The parliament is not the official representative of the European Union in matters of foreign policy," the spokeswoman said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev called the meeting a "very negative occurrence."

"Giving recognition and legitimacy to an unreformed Hamas will not help peace," he said.