Jimmy Carter, the former US president and winner of the Nobel peace prize, is set to meet two top Hamas officials in Cairo later on Wednesday, defying appeals from the Israeli government and the US administration to shun the Islamist group.

A Hamas spokesman said Mr Carter was scheduled to meet Mahmoud Zahar, a former Palestinian foreign minister who is widely seen as a hardliner inside the group, and Said Siyam, another senior Hamas leader. Another person familiar with the matter confirmed the meeting was going ahead.