Trump’s latest surprise to the world—and Israel likely wasn’t excluded from this revelation—is that a representative of his administration has been holding secret direct negotiations with Hamas for weeks in Doha!
This marks an unprecedented move for an American administration, as the United States officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997. The White House confirmed the news, stating that Adam Boehler, the American envoy for hostages, holds full authority to negotiate directly with Hamas.
Following the release of the news, Netanyahu’s office quickly issued a statement emphasizing that Israel had been aware of the negotiations from the outset and had raised concerns with the American side at the time. However, the statement did not detail those concerns.
On the other hand, Israeli sources denied prior knowledge of the talks, expressing concern about the potential outcomes of negotiations that, despite being deeply tied to Israel’s core interests, have proceeded without its involvement.
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Israel has long been accustomed to being the key player in such diplomatic moves, given its historic relationship with previous American administrations.
Early reports suggest that the negotiations focus on securing the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas who also hold American citizenship, with some reports claiming the talks are expanding to include a temporary or even permanent ceasefire.
Despite these reports, there is no concrete evidence that an agreement has been reached on any of these issues. This is indicated by the decision made by Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East, to delay his arrival in the region, seemingly waiting for an agreement that could be presented as a Trump administration victory.
The key takeaway here, especially given the likelihood that the US will exclude Israel from the consultations, is that Trump is showing a distinct lack of interest in involving anyone—even close allies—in major decisions in which they have a vested interest.
He has done this with the Europeans, particularly on Ukraine, where his approach to negotiating a major settlement with Russia transcends both Ukraine’s borders and broader European concerns.
When it comes to Hamas, Trump has repeatedly stated that he has sent Israel everything it needs to achieve its mission, suggesting that his direct involvement is justified due to Israel’s failure to accomplish its objective of releasing the hostages on its own.
Ahmed Abdel-Tawwab (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)