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Hamas Says Talks with US Focused on Release of American Hostage in Gaza
FILE PHOTO: Yael, Adi and Mika Alexander, the family of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, pose for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at the Alexander’s home in Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S., December 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel/File Photo
Meetings between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler in recent days have focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the terrorist group in Gaza, a senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday.
Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the leader of the Palestinian group, confirmed the unprecedented, direct talks with Washington, saying the discussions had taken place in the Qatari capital over the past week.
“Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dual-nationality prisoners. We have dealt positively and flexibly, in a way that serves the interests of the Palestinian people,” Nono said.
He added that the two sides had also discussed how to see through the implementation of the phased agreement aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war.
“We informed the American delegation that we don’t oppose the release of the prisoner within the framework of these talks,” Nono told Reuters.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House last week that gaining the release of Edan Alexander, the 21-year-old man from New Jersey believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a “top priority for us.”
Alexander served as a soldier with the Israeli military.
Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday they were preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend the fragile 42-day truce that began in January.
A Hamas delegation met in the past two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the implementation of the deal’s second phase.
Israel also said it was sending negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.
On Sunday, its Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, said he had instructed the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) not to sell electricity to Gaza, in what he described in a video as a means of pressure on Hamas to free hostages.
The measure would have little immediate impact, as Israel already cut supply to Gaza at the start of the war. It would, however, affect a wastewater treatment plant presently supplied with power, according to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC).
DIRECT ENGAGEMENT
The discussions between U.S. hostage envoy Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the U.S. brands as terrorist organizations.
Nono praised what he described as an “important role” played by Witkoff in reaching the January 19 ceasefire agreement that halted the fighting in Gaza.
“We hope that he (Witkoff) will work to succeed in the negotiation of the second phase,” Nono said.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees and has also freed five Thai hostages. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
Underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire, Gaza medics said one Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded on Sunday by Israeli fire in Shejaia in eastern Gaza City. The Israeli military said its air force struck several “terrorists” who operated near their forces and attempted to plant a bomb.
The Israeli military said that in the past three days forces had struck suspects trying to plant a bomb, and that its aircraft had hit a drone that crossed from Israel into southern Gaza and “several suspects” who had tried to collect it.
The post Hamas Says Talks with US Focused on Release of American Hostage in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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