President-elect Barack Obama's transition team on Friday denied a report in a British newspaper that Obama wants to open secret talks with Hamas.
A report in The Guardian cited transition team sources as saying that Obama's advisers are urging him to use U.S. intelligence agencies to "initiate low-level or clandestine" communications with Hamas.
"This is going to be an administration that is committed to negotiating with critical parties on critical issues," the newspaper quoted a source.
Obama's team denied the report Friday morning, citing the president-elect's past statements that Hamas must be isolated until it renounces terrorism.
"The President-elect has repeatedly stated that he believes that Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction, and that we should not deal with them until they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by past agreements," transition spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said in a written statement.
"The President-elect's repeated statements are accurate. This unsourced story is not."