According to Israeli officials and diplomats, US and Hamas officials discussed hostages held in the Gaza Strip in Qatar, explained the issue, and plunged into a long-standing American policy of refusing to directly involve designated groups as terrorists.
Adam Berler, the candidate to become President Trump's hostage envoy, took part in a meeting with Hamas officials this week, the diplomat said. Both people discussed the meeting on the condition of anonymity, as they were not permitted to publicly speak about anonymity diplomacy.
Trump's spokesman, Caroline Leavitt, did not deny that direct talks with Hamas were ongoing. When asked why the administration was involved with Hamas at a White House press conference Wednesday, she said Boller had the authority to “speak to anyone” to “people engaged in those negotiations.”
The scope of the debate was not immediately clear, but mediators have tried to expand the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and release the remaining hostages in Gaza. Israel said about 24 live prisoners, including American citizen Edan Alexander, and at least 35 bodies, are still believed to be still being held in Gaza.
The secret speech that Axios first confirmed marked a major departure from previous negotiations, including the US and Hamas, which the US government has seen as a terrorist group for decades. American officials, like their Israeli counterparts, generally rely on intermediaries (and now Qatar and Egypt are the main Gobetween), who don't sit with Hamas leaders, but rather convey their message to the group.
“Israel has been consulted on this issue,” Levitt said, referring to the State Department for further questions. “American lives are at risk,” she added.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Israel “expressed its opinion on a direct conversation with Hamas during consultations with the United States.”
Hamas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US and European officials wanted the contactless policy with Hamas to quarantine and weaken the group after seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Critics have sometimes questioned the effectiveness of boycotts that continued through years of deadlock and almost obvious changes in Hamas' position.
After Hamas-led attacks on Israel sparked the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, mediators played a major role in mediation efforts to end the fighting and release other hostages seized by Palestinian extremists seized by Israeli and Palestinian extremists.
According to the Israeli government, Hamas and its allies seized about 250 prisoners during the attack on Southern Israel. More than 100 people were released during the weekly truce in late 2023, and eight more bodies have been released since 30 more were launched in mid-January.
Israel and Hamas are currently closing their terms with the next phase of the current transaction: the terms. It is a comprehensive ceasefire that ends the war and frees the remaining living hostages in Gaza. Direct contact with Hamas avoided these stagnant consultations.
President Trump appointed Borler to serve as a special envoy on the hostage issue in early December. Bohler, a healthcare executive who played a role in Trump's first administration, has yet to be confirmed to work by the US Senate.
In his speech to Congress on Tuesday evening, President Trump said his administration was to “recover hostages from Gaza” without providing additional details from the time.
Since the war began, the United States has supported a mediation agreement between Israel and Hamas, ending a devastating war in Gaza and attempting to free hostages. US officials are particularly concerned about the fate of at least 12 American and Israeli prisoners of war that Hamas filmed during the deadly attack, and are in touch with their families and invited them to the White House for a meeting.
Hamas currently carries one living American and Israeli prisoner, Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier from New Jersey, and four other bodies were seized during the 2023 attack. However, it is unclear whether the two will be able to close the deal to secure a release, as the next step in the Israeli Hama ceasefire is still suspected.
Alexander grew up with Israeli-American parents in Tenafree, New Jersey. He later returned to Israel to serve the army before being accused of from a front post near the Gaza border during a Hamas-led attack.
Alexander's father, Addie Alexander, said in an interview last week that the Trump administration would need to “reshuffle the deck and renegotiate everything” to extend the ceasefire and release the remaining hostages, including his son.
“We are pleased and grateful for the ceasefire, but the job is not finished,” Addy Alexander said.
Ed Wong, Luke Broadwater and David E. Sanger contributed to the report from Washington.
