WORLD NEWS: US HOLDS DIRECT TALKS WITH HAMAS
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The United States on Wednesday confirmed unprecedented direct talks with Hamas on hostages, as Israel threatened to renew its military campaign in Gaza despite a fragile ceasefire.
The White House said that President Donald Trump’s envoy on hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, held the talks which focused on Americans among the remaining hostages in Gaza.
“Israel was consulted on this matter,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the President” believes is right, she said.
The United States had refused direct contact with the Palestinian militants since banning them as a terrorist organization in 1997. But Leavitt said that the hostage envoy in his role “has the authority to talk to anyone.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Israel was consulted and said in a statement that it “expressed its opinion” on direct talks.
The talks were first reported by Axios, which said Boehler met with Hamas in Qatar about the US hostages but also as part of a longer-term truce.
Five Americans are believed to remain among the hostages seized in the massive October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Four of them have been confirmed dead and the other, Edan Alexander, is believed to be alive.
The first phase of a ceasefire ended over the weekend after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.
But Israel announced at the end of the first phase that it was halting all entry of goods and supplies into Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble after the relentless year and a half of Israeli operations.
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