Clinton spoke as the US State Department announced that the United States had suspended all contact with the Palestinian government led by Hamas, who won an overwhelming victory in the Palestinian general election in January.

Clinton, whose eight-year presidency ended in 2001, said he would be prepared to support dealing with the Islamist group if they agreed to negotiate and turn their backs on terrorism.

The United States, European Union and Israel all regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation, given its track record of suicide bombings and its refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist.

Asked if he would shake hands with Hamas in the name of negotiation as he did with Arafat in 1993, Clinton said: “If they made the same assurances that Arafat did.

“He had made private assurances, and he made public assurances, that he did not support terror any more and would try to restrain it.

“So if Hamas would say, suppose they say, OK, look, we can’t change our theory, we can’t change our document, we can’t change our history, but we’re in government now and the policy of the Palestinian government is no to terror and yes to negotiations. As long as we’re in government, we’ll honour that policy.

“If they did that, I would support dealing with them.”