Hamas says NO to Israel for the millionth time...

You'd think that Jimmy Carter would understand by now that Hamas will NEVER recognize Israel....

A senior Hamas official praised former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday, a day after he met with the group, but said he failed to persuade the Islamic rulers of Gaza to accept international demands, including recognizing Israel.

Carter visited Gaza on Tuesday and urged Hamas leaders to accept the demands to end an international boycott, which was imposed when the militant group overran Gaza two years ago.

Carter's meeting was itself unusual because of the boycott. The United States, European Union and Israel consider Hamas a terror group and refuse to deal with it directly.

Ahmed Youssef, the deputy Hamas foreign minister, said Gaza's Palestinians were pleased to receive Carter.

"The people think this is a historic visit," Youssef told The Associated Press on Wednesday, describing Carter as "somebody very knowledgeable about the conflict and very sincere in the way he understands the conflict."

But Youssef said Hamas turned down Carter's policy requests.

"The visit has not led to a significant change. Hamas finds the conditions unacceptable," he said. "Recognizing Israel is completely unacceptable."