White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday, in response to questions from Fox News’ Peter Doocy in the briefing room, that the president’s special envoy for Middle East negotiations, Steven Witkoff, was dealing directly with Hamas — for the first time ever. She added that Israel had been “consulted on this matter.”
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed its knowledge of the talks, though without stating its view publicly, other than to say that it had shared its view with the White House about talking with Hamas.
“Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas,” its brief statement said.
There are 63 hostages remaining in Gaza, including 24 who are thought to be alive. Among the bodies of the dead, there are thought to be several American citizens. Hamas is holding the hostages in flagrant violation of international law, which prohibits the taking of civilian hostages and requires that the Red Cross be allowed to visit prisoners.
Trump briefly mentioned the hostages in his address to Congress on Tuesday evening. Qatar and Egypt have not been able to deliver the release of all the hostages, and differ with Trump over his plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza.
Trump was instrumental in bringing Israel and Hamas to a ceasefire-and-hostage release deal in January, even before he took office, under which 33 Israeli hostages were freed, including 18 who were still alive, and three U.S. citizens.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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