The political leader of Hamas has told Al Jazeera that foreign powers must deal with the whole Palestinian national unity government rather than individual officials. Khaled Meshaal's remarks came as the US said it would decide whether to have contacts with non-Hamas officials on a "case-by-case" basis. "There is a Palestinian consensus that everyone will have to deal with us as a unified national unity government without discriminating between ministers," Meshaal told Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan. A coalition government of ministers from Hamas and their main rivals, Fatah, took power on Saturday. The new government has received a mixed response from the international community.