Trump administration holds secret talks with Hamas in break with US foreign policy

Washington: The Trump administration has been conducting secret talks with the militant Palestinian group Hamas on the possibility of releasing US hostages from Gaza, in another significant foreign policy shift for the United States.

US special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler held direct negotiations with Hamas in Doha, Qatar in recent weeks, sources briefed on the conversations said.

Until recently the US has avoided direct engagement with the Islamist group, which carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed 1200 Israelis and triggered the devastating war in Gaza that has left more than 48,000 people dead, according to Palestinian authorities.

Such talks run counter to long-standing US policy against direct contacts with groups that Washington lists as foreign terrorist organisations. The US State Department designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997.

The previous US role in helping to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza conflict has been dealing with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators, but without any known direct communications between Washington and Hamas.

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, but Israel – along with many other countries – considers Hamas a terrorist organisation and refuses to negotiate directly with the group.

Boehler’s office declined to comment.