JERUSALEM, March 18 (Reuters) - The United States will shun Hamas ministers in a Palestinian unity government but will allow contacts with non-Hamas members on a case-by-case basis, the U.S. consulate said on Sunday.

The shift in U.S. policy amounts to a break with Israel, which has vowed to shun the entire unity government cabinet.

"We will continue our policy of not having contacts with members of foreign terrorist organisations," said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem.

"In terms of individuals who are not members of foreign terrorist organisations, we will not suspend contacts with individual Palestinians soley based on their participation in the unity government but we will make individual decisions based on our evaluation of the situation," she added.

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