The Trump administration’s secret talks with Hamas were a “one-off situation” that “hasn’t borne fruit,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Discussing the secret talks during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Rubio defended hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s decision to negotiate directly with Hamas earlier this month, breaking away from America’s decades-long policy and angering Israel.
“That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so,” Rubio told reporters.
“As of now, it hasn’t borne fruit. Doesn’t mean he was wrong to try,” he added.
News of America’s direct dealings with Hamas was met with instant condemnation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, with fears mounting that the US would seek to free Israeli-American Edan Alexander, 21, without securing the release of the other 58 hostages.
Both the Trump administration and Hamas claimed the talks were moving along in a “positive” direction.
Despite the Trump administration’s claim that Israel had been made aware of the talks, officials in the Jewish state said they were only made aware of the situation following leaks and reports of the secret negotiations.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer allegedly told Netanyahu’s security cabinet that Boehler’s negotiations did not represent the White House’s position on the peace talks, Axios reported.
Dermer also claimed that the Trump administration had promised Israel that such talks “won’t happen again,” and that special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, not Boehler, will serve as the lead negotiator, an Israeli official told the outlet.
Witkoff, who is in Saudi Arabia after discussing a 30-day cease-fire proposal in the Ukraine war, arrived in Qatar Tuesday to broker the future of the strained truce between Israel and Hamas.
Israel is currently backing a proposal that would see the first phase of the cease-fire deal extended by another 60 days to broker the release of 10 living hostages, including Alexander, a New Jersey native.
Hamas, however, is calling for the negotiations to move onto the second phase, which seeks for all 24 living hostages to be freed in exchange for Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
Witkoff has expressed frustration over the stalemate in the negotiations, saying that the upcoming talks must establish deadlines on the next phase of the agreement.
The US envoy has also said that in order for peace to be enacted, Hamas must agree to demilitarize itself and exit Gaza, which it has governed for nearly 20 years.
