Israel-Gaza conflict: White House confirms US-Hamas negotiations amid hostage crisis

Family members and friends carry a coffin covered with an Israeli flag during a funeral for Itzik Elgarat, killed while in Hamas captivity in early March in Nir Oz, Israel. Photo / Getty Images

• The US is holding direct talks with Hamas to secure the release of American hostages.
• Meetings in Qatar involved Donald Trump’s envoy Adam Boehler and discussed a broader deal, but no agreement was reached.
• Israel halted humanitarian aid to Gaza, warning of “additional consequences” if Hamas rejects a US proposal.

The US is holding direct negotiations with Hamas, the White House confirmed, in what is believed to be an effort to secure the release of American hostages.

Meetings are said to have taken place in Qatar between Adam Boehler, Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, and the Islamist organisation, the first time direct negotiations have taken place since the US designated Hamas a terrorist organisation in 1997.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, confirmed todaythat talks had been held, telling reporters it was “in the best interest” for the American people.

Leavitt did not confirm if the discussions related to the release of hostages but added that: “There were American lives on the line.”

Hamas believed to hold five Americans

It comes as the formal talks with Israel appeared stuck in stalemate over the issue of the Israel Defence Forces' (IDF) withdrawal from Gaza and the political future of the enclave. Axios later reported that Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had acknowledged the discussions had taken place between the US and Hamas.

Hamas is believed to hold five Americans – although only one, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, is alive.

Born in New Jersey, Alexander, 19 at the time of the massacre, was serving in the IDF before being captured.

His parents were present at Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday.

The US-Hamas talks have also included discussion of a broader deal, although no agreement is said to have been reached.

Israel and Hamas currently have no agreement since phase one of their hostage deal expired at the weekend, and with no progress on a second phase under the formal framework.

However, the ceasefire is currently holding, despite isolated strikes by the IDF on alleged suspicious activity in the enclave.

Overall, Israeli intelligence believes that 22 hostages remain alive, with the status of another two unknown.

Israel has sought to ratchet up the pressure on Hamas this week by cutting off the influx of humanitarian aid.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government halted aid entering Gaza on Monday and warned of “additional consequences” if Hamas did not accept a US proposal – separate from the Boehler talks – for an extension of the first phase.

Britain, France and Germany today issued a joint statement warning that Israel risked breaching international humanitarian law with its blockade.

They said humanitarian aid “should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool”.

Approximately 90% of the population in Palestine, about 1.9 million people, have been displaced by the war and are at risk of famine.

Israel’s Government has argued that the aid is being seized by the terror group, which uses it to regenerate its military and economic strength.

It came as Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, reportedly cancelled his trip to the region this weekend due to lack of progress with the formal talks.

As well as Alexander, Hamas is also holding the bodies of Itay Chen, Gad Haggai, Judi Weinstein and Omer Neutra, all US citizens.

A Hamas source today confirmed that the terror group had held meetings with both Boehler and Witkoff in recent weeks.

In a further illustration of the radically different approach taken by Trump’s administration, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hard-right Finance Minister, held a meeting with his US counterpart in Washington.

Under Joe Biden’s administration, he had been effectively boycotted due to his incendiary views about the Palestinians and the future of Gaza.

Meanwhile Israel’s top soldier, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, formally stood down, having previously announced that he would do so to take responsibility for the Army’s failure to predict October 7 and its mistakes on the day.

Among his first acts out of office was to visit Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and to call for a state commission of inquiry, piling pressure on Netanyahu to allow a formal probe into, among other things, the political failings that led to the massacre.