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The talks marked a significant departure for the United States, which has generally refused to talk directly with groups Washington has designated as terrorist organizations.
Hamas fighters during a handover of Israeli hostages last month. Credit… Saher Alghorra for The New York Times Published March 5, 2025 Updated March 6, 2025, 12:30 a.m. ET
U.S. and Hamas officials have had talks in Qatar about hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to two Israeli officials, a Western official and a diplomat briefed on the matter, breaking with a longstanding American policy of refusing to directly engage groups that it has designated as terrorists.
President Trump’s nominee to be special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, participated in the talks this week with Hamas officials, the diplomat said. All four officials discussed the meetings on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive diplomacy.
The talks in Doha, Qatar, focused on securing the release of Edan Alexander, the only Israeli American hostage still believed to be alive, and the bodies of four other Israeli Americans who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to one of the Israeli officials and the Western official.
Karoline Leavitt, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, did not deny that direct talks with Hamas were underway. Asked at a White House news conference on Wednesday why the administration was engaging with Hamas, she said Mr. Boehler, “who is engaged in those negotiations,” had “the authority to talk to anyone.”
The secret talks, which Axios initially reported, were a significant departure from previous negotiations involving the United States and Hamas, which the State Department has for decades designated as a terrorist group. American officials, like their Israeli counterparts, have generally relied on intermediaries — most recently, Qatar and Egypt have been the main go-betweens — to relay messages to the group rather than sit with Hamas leaders.
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Adam Boehler, President Trump’s nominee to be special envoy on hostage matters, participated in talks this week with Hamas, officials said. Credit… Armend Nimani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
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