The United States has suspended all contact with the Palestinian government led by Hamas, the US State Department announced. However, the administration will maintain contact with the Palestinian Authority's representative in Washington, Afief Safieh, because "he does not report to the foreign ministry", Adam Ereli, deputy State Department spokesman, told reporters on Friday.Mahmud Zahar, the new Palestinian minister of foreign affairs, is a Hamas member. "We've advised our mission in Jerusalem, as well as other missions around the world that ... there should be no contact between US government officials and PA (Palestinian Authority) officials who are under the authority of the prime minister or any other minister in the Hamas-led government. This includes working-level officials in those ministries," said Ereli. "If they're working in a Hamas-led ministry, no matter what their affiliation is, we're not going to have contact with them," he said.