Trump administration’s comment on reports of contact with Hamas

The White House said Wednesday that US special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler has the authority to talk to anyone as part of his efforts to bring an end to the war in Gaza.

White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt ignored a question about whether US negotiations with Hamas conflicted with long-standing US policy of not negotiating with groups it considers terrorist, such as Hamas.

“First and foremost, the special envoy, who is involved in these negotiations, has the authority to speak to anyone, and Israel has been consulted on this issue,” Levitt said.

“Dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what is in the best interest of the American people is something the president has demonstrated, which he believes is a good faith effort to do what is right for the American people,” she continued.

Several US media reported that, the United States had held direct talks with Hamas in Qatar to secure the release of hostages still being held in Gaza, with Boehler leading the talks on behalf of the Trump administration.

Levitt declined to say whether the administration’s talks were just about trying to secure the hostages or whether they were part of Trump’s larger vision for Gaza, which he described as a big real estate site.

“These are ongoing conversations and discussions, and I won’t detail them here… There are American lives at stake, and I would leave it to the State Department to get more details, but I won’t get into those conversations here,” she said.

The United States designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, as traditionally, the US government doesn’t talk to terrorist organizations, although there are exceptions.

Both the Obama and Trump administrations have negotiated with the Taliban, which was designated a terrorist organization in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that he expressed to the United States his position on direct talks with Hamas.

The Israeli statement didn’t clarify whether Israel had prior knowledge of the talks or whether it only learned about them later, and the statement also didn’t clarify Israel’s position.