Former US president Jimmy Carter defied American and Israeli warnings and met the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group’s deputy chief.

Former US President Jimmy Carter defied American and Israeli warnings today and met the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group's deputy chief.

Arab officials today reacted with concern to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, criticising Israel for causing suffering to Gaza residents and citing Israeli warplanes’ buzzing of the Syrian president’s home as especially troubling.