The Trump administration has been conducting secret talks with the militant Palestinian group Hamas to try to secure the release of U.S. hostages seized in Israel and held in Gaza, two sources briefed on the conversations told Reuters.
U.S. hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler has the authority to talk directly with Hamas, the White House said when asked about the discussions, which run counter to longstanding policy against negotiating with groups that the U.S. has designated as terrorist organizations.
Boehler and Hamas officials met in Doha in recent weeks, the sources said. It was not clear who represented Hamas.
At the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump met a group of hostages who had been released recently under a Gaza ceasefire deal, a White House official said.
The U.S. had long avoided direct engagement with the militant group, which carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, triggering a devastating Gaza war. Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.Â
The U.S. State Department designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997.
One of the sources said the effort includes an attempt to gain the release of Edan Alexander of Tenafly, N.J., believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas. He appeared in a video published by Hamas in November 2024.
Four other U.S. hostages have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
To date, the U.S. role in helping to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal has been dealing with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators but without any known direct communications between Washington and Hamas.
Axios was first to report on the Doha discussions.
“When it comes to the negotiations that you’re referring to, first of all, the special envoy who’s engaged in those negotiations does have the authority,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
She said Israel was consulted but did not indicate whether this was before or after the talks, and she described them as part of Trump’s “good faith effort to do what’s right for the American people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying: “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.” It did not elaborate. Israel, along with many other countries considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and refuses to negotiate directly with the group.
Hamas did not respond to a request for comment.
Risks and opportunities with approach
The sources said the talks have focused on gaining the release of American hostages still held in Gaza, but one said they also have included discussions about a broader deal to release all remaining hostages and how to reach a long-term truce.
Leavitt was asked whether the talks with Hamas also included Trump’s controversial proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza. He suggested last month that war-ravaged Gaza be transformed into a Riviera-style resort after its inhabitants are resettled elsewhere, an idea rejected in the Arab world and condemned by human rights groups.
“These are ongoing talks and discussions. I’m not going to detail them,” she said. “There are American lives at stake.”
Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said Trump’s unconventional diplomatic approach carries both risks and opportunities.
“On one hand, engaging Hamas directly could make it easier to get U.S. hostages out and help reach a long-term agreement,” said Panikoff, now at the Atlantic Council think-tank.
“On the other, there’s a reason the U.S. doesn’t usually negotiate with terrorist groups, knowing Washington will do so incentivizes them to repeat the behaviour in the future.”
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff plans to return to the region in coming days to work out a way either to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since Jan. 19 and Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
