Hamas: Peace talks

Very recently former President Jimmy Carter went to meet with various Hamas leaders. His idea was to try to create peace talks between Hamas and Israel. Hamas has been declared by many countries as a terrorist organization and has orchestrated many attacks within Israel. An article discusses his visit:

"Defying U.S. and Israeli warnings, former President Carter met again on Saturday with the exiled leader of the militant Hamas group and his deputy. The two Palestinians are considered terrorists by the U.S. government and Israel
accuses them of masterminding attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians. Both governments have sharply criticized Carter's overtures to the militant group.Carter met Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, for about an hour Saturday morning, after more than four hours of talks the night before.Carter, on what he has called a personal peace mission, is the most prominent American to hold talks with Mashaal, whose group claimed new legitimacy from the meetings with the Nobel laureate."

While Carter may contribute to the overall peace efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas, I don't think his visit caused any positive results. With his presence with Hamas leaders we do see that he is trying to garner some kind of peace between them. However I think he is more than anything making himself a significant security risk. If Hamas was able to threaten Carter in any way that could work to heavily undermine his whole visit. I think the situation is most likely under control but I think the trip was unnecessary and worked more towards media attention rather than finding actually peace. While his trip was abmirable, the leaders of Israel and Hamas need to work together rather than through ex-presidents of other countries.