A political adviser to the leader of the Palestinian group, Taher Al-Nono, has said that meetings between Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler in recent days have focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the militant group in Gaza.
Al-Nono confirmed the unprecedented, direct talks with Washington, saying the discussions had taken place in the Qatari capital over the past week.
“Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dual-nationality prisoners. We have dealt positively and flexibly, in a way that serves the interests of the Palestinian people,” Nono said.
According to him, the two sides had also discussed how to see through the implementation of the phased agreement aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war.
“We informed the American delegation that we don’t oppose the release of the prisoner within the framework of these talks,” Nono added.
Recall that President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House last week that gaining the release of Edan Alexander, the 21-year-old man from New Jersey believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a top priority for the US.
Alexander was said to served as a soldier with the Israeli military.
It could be recalled that Israel and Hamas signaled on Saturday that they were preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend the fragile 42-day truce that began in January.
A Hamas delegation met in the past two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the implementation of the deal’s second phase.
Israel also said it was sending negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.
The discussions between U.S. hostage envoy Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the U.S. brands as terrorist organisations.
According to Gaza health officials, the Islamist militant group carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking a devastating war in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians.
Israeli tallies revealed that Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages.
