US hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler has the authority to talk directly with Hamas, the White House said when asked about the discussions, which run counter to longstanding policy against negotiating with groups that the US has designated as terrorist organizations.
Boehler and Hamas officials met in Doha in recent weeks, the sources said. It was not clear who represented Hamas.
The US had long avoided direct engagement with the Islamist group, which carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a devastating Gaza war. The US State Department designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997.
One of the sources said the effort includes an attempt to gain the release of Edan Alexander of Tenafly, New Jersey, believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas. He appeared in a video published by Hamas in November 2024.
Four other US hostages have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.
To date the US role in helping to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal has been dealing with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators but without any known direct communications between Washington and Hamas.
Axios was first to report on the Doha discussions.
"When it comes to the negotiations that you're referring to, first of all, the special envoy who's engaged in those negotiations does have the authority," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
She said Israel was consulted but did not indicate whether this was before or after the talks, and she described them as part of President Donald Trump's "good faith effort to do what's right for the American people."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying: “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.” It did not elaborate but Israel, which along with many other countries considers Hamas a terrorist organization, refuses to negotiate directly with the group.
Hamas did not respond to a request for comment.
'AMERICAN LIVES AT STAKE'
The sources said the talks have focused on gaining the release of American hostages still held in Gaza, but one said they also have included discussions about a broader deal to release all remaining hostages and how to reach a long-term truce.
Leavitt was asked whether the talks with Hamas also included Trump's controversial proposal for the US to take over Gaza. He suggested last month that war-ravaged Gaza be transformed into a Riviera-style resort after its inhabitants are resettled elsewhere, an idea rejected in the Arab world and condemned by human rights groups.
"These are ongoing talks and discussions. I'm not going to detail them," she said. "There are American lives at stake."
Jonathan Panikoff, a former US deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said Trump's unconventional diplomatic approach carries both risks and opportunities.
"On one hand, engaging Hamas directly could make it easier to get US hostages out and help reach a long-term agreement," said Panikoff, now at the Atlantic Council thinktank. "On the other, there’s a reason the US doesn’t usually negotiate with terrorist groups, knowing Washington will do so incentivizes them to repeat the behavior in the future."
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff plans to return to the region in coming days to work out a way either to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since January 19 and Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Katharine Jackson and Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi; editing by Ryan Patrick Jones, Aidan Lewis, Chris Reese, Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)
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