White House holding direct talks with Hamas on hostage release

WASHINGTON—Trump administration officials have been holding face-to-face talks with Hamas officials in Qatar in an effort that focused on securing the release of remaining American hostages held by the militant group, U.S. and Arab officials said Wednesday.

The talks are a “good faith effort to do what’s right for the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing. “There are American lives at stake,” she added.

The discussions mark the first publicly acknowledged talks between Washington and the U.S.-designated terror group since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023.

The initial contact occurred last month in Doha, Qatar, and included a request by U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler for the release of American hostages, according to two U.S. officials, a senior Hamas official and two Arab mediators. Hamas responded on Feb. 15 by freeing Israeli-American Sagui Dekel Chen.

But the U.S. was seeking the release of all remaining American hostages, including the remains of deceased prisoners, as an initial step by Hamas. One living American, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, and four bodies of slain American citizens remain in Gaza.

Hamas negotiators said they were willing to release them in a broader deal ending the war, the Arab officials said. U.S. negotiators voiced interest in a deal that would allow the release of all remaining hostages dead or alive, but made no commitments, they added.

The two sides didn’t reach an agreement in the meeting or in a subsequent one, but left the door open for further talks, the Arab officials said. The U.S. has previously communicated with Hamas representatives through intermediaries in lengthy cease-fire talks during the Biden administration.

Leavitt said that Israel was consulted about the talks. Boehler, she said, ”does have the authority to talk to anyone.”

Arab officials said Israel had not been informed by the U.S. ahead of the meetings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that read in its entirety: “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.”

Trump has signaled impatience with the staged releases under the cease-fire deal that his own representative helped negotiate before he took office. Trump said last month he wanted the release of all the hostages—“all of them, not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two.”