WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued what he called a “last
warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza, directing a
sharply worded message after the White House confirmed that he had recently
dispatched an envoy for unprecedented direct talks with the militant group.
In a statement on his Truth Social platform soon after
meeting at the White House with eight former hostages, Trump added that he was
“sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job.”
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately
return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for
you,” Trump said. “Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick
and twisted!”
The pointed language from Trump came after the White House
said Wednesday that US officials have engaged in “ongoing talks and
discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held US policy of
not directly engaging with the militant group.
Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha came
as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance. It's the first known
direct engagement between the United States and Hamas since the State
Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to
provide detail on the substance of talks, but said President Donald Trump has
authorized his envoys to “talk to anyone.”
Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries have served as mediators
with Hamas for the US and Israel since the group launched its Oct 7, 2023
attack on Israel that sparked the war.
“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 a good-faith effort to do what's right for the
American people,” she said.
Leavitt added that Israel has been consulted about the
direct engagement with Hamas officials, and noted that there are “American
lives at stake.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office offered a
terse acknowledgement of the U.S.-Hamas talks. “Israel has expressed to the
United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas,” the prime
minister's office said.
Israeli officials say about 24 living hostages — including
Edan Alexander, an American citizen — as well as the bodies of at least 35
others are believed to still be held in Gaza.
Adam Boehler, Trump's nominee to be special envoy for
hostage affairs, led the direct talks with Hamas. Boehler, founder and CEO of
Rubicon Founders, a healthcare investment firm, was a lead negotiator on the
Abraham Accords team during Trump's first term that strove to win broader
recognition of Israel in the Arab world.
The talks, which took place last month, focused mainly on
the release of American hostages, and a potential end of the war without Hamas
in power in Gaza, according to a Hamas official who was not authorized to
comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official added that no progress was made but “the step
itself is promising” and more talks are expected. Egyptian and Qatari mediators
helped arrange the talks.
The direct engagement comes as continuation of the
Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains uncertain. Trump has signaled that he has no
intentions of pushing Netanyahu away from a return to combat if Hamas doesn't
agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal, which the Israelis have billed as
being drafted by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its
remaining hostages — the militant group's main bargaining chip — in exchange
for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel
made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners, a key component of the
first phase.
Trump on Wednesday welcomed eight former hostages — Iair
Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron
Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani — to the White House.
“The President listened intently to their heartbreaking
stories,” Leavitt said. "The hostages thanked President Trump for his
steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home.”
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American released last month as
part of the ceasefire, said they came to the White House to express their
appreciation to Trump and Witkoff, the Mideast envoy.
“We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have
done so much. We trust them and we know they will get the job done to get all
the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families,” he
said in a statement.
The talks between US and Hamas officials were first reported
earlier Wednesday by the news site Axios.
Leavitt, the White House press secretary, is one of three
administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First-
and Fifth-Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news
agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not
following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of
America.
