Israeli government furious after US hostage envoy bombshells

Trump administration's official on Gaza hostages has made unexpectedly critical comments

Remarks by US envoy for hostages Adam Boehler have caused consternation among Israeli officials. AFP

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US officials are striking an emollient tone after comments by the Trump administration’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler raised major concerns in Israel when he described Hamas as “nice guys” and said his country “is not an agent of Israel”.

Israeli ministers were reportedly furious at earlier revelations that the US had been holding direct negotiations with Hamas about the future of the Gaza ceasefire deal struck in January.

Mr Boehler then prompted more concern with a series of media interviews on US and Israeli television channels, in which he said the US had “specific interests at play” and dismissed the reported concerns of senior Israeli ministers over the direct talks with Hamas, among other bombshells.

His comments raised fears in Israel that the US, Israel’s most important ally, which has played a major role in hostage negotiations and supporting the country throughout the Gaza war, could become a more unpredictable partner under President Donald Trump.

US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington. AP

Chuck Freilich, senior researcher at think tank INSS and Israel's former deputy national security adviser, told The National that whoever approved Mr Boehler's comments had "violated decades of American policy of not talking to Hamas since it was established and a general policy of not talking to terrorist organisations".

Mr Boehler later said in a post on X: "I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people."

The day after Mr Boehler’s interviews, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his country’s direct negotiations with Hamas were a “one-off situation” that have not “borne fruit”.

“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,” Mr Rubio said.

Mr Freilich said there were a number of meetings "so it’s more than a one-off, but let’s say it was a one-time attempt to conduct talks with them, it may have undermined the Witkoff channel," he added, referring to US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, much-respected among Israelis who want freeing hostages prioritised. "It looks like maybe the administration isn’t co-ordinated and talking in one voice."

Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East, has said 'all things are on the table' in talks with Hamas, as long as it lays down its weapons and leaves Gaza. Bloomberg

Mr Rubio's comments came as Mr Witkoff, a key figure in the effort to release hostages in Gaza, a number of whom hold US citizenship, said “all things are on the table” in current talks, provided that Hamas demilitarises and leaves Gaza. “If they leave, then all things are on the table for a negotiated peace and that’s what they’ll need to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, many Israeli outlets criticised the hostage envoy, publishing opinion pieces describing the official as "naive".

A team of mid-level Israeli negotiators arrived in Qatar on Monday for the latest indirect negotiations with Hamas on the fate of the Gaza ceasefire. Sources told The National that Israel's level of representation in Doha underlined an apparent lack of interest in negotiating the second phase of the deal, which involves a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Despite polling in Israel consistently showing that a majority of the public favours the continuation of a deal to release hostages, the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu features a number of ministers vehemently opposed to any agreement with Hamas. Mr Netanyahu himself is accused by many in Israel of stalling on a deal to stop his coalition from collapsing.

Delays in the transition from the expired first phase of the deal to the second have raised fears that Israel’s leadership is prepared to resume fighting, a move that would plunge Gaza into further humanitarian disaster and, critics say, put the remaining living hostages in Gaza in mortal danger.

Israel’s new military chief of staff Eyal Zamir on Monday said his country “must be prepared for 2025 to be a year of war”.

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Reuters