Egypt Daily News – The secret negotiations conducted by the Trump administration with Hamas have sparked Israeli concerns, which were revealed in a controversial phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-hand man and the U.S. official leading the talks, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the call who spoke to “Axios.”
When Trump’s aides sought Israeli officials’ opinions in early February regarding the possibility of directly engaging with Hamas, the Israelis advised against it, particularly without preconditions. However, Israel later learned through other channels that the U.S. was proceeding with the talks regardless.
Netanyahu has avoided publicly criticizing President Trump since “Axios” revealed the unprecedented U.S.-Hamas talks on Wednesday, stating only that Israel had made its position clear to the U.S. However, Netanyahu’s close confidant, Ron Dermer, was less reserved the previous day in a call with U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler, according to sources.
Behind the scenes, the call took place just hours after Boehler met in Doha with Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas political leader and head of the negotiation team.
Boehler’s negotiations had begun the previous week in the Qatari capital with lower-level Hamas officials. The discussions focused on the return of American hostage Aidan Alexander (21) and the remains of four deceased American detainees, as part of Boehler’s mandate as a hostage envoy.
However, the U.S. message was that such a deal would be a significant step forward, prompting Trump to push for a broader agreement. This could include a long-term ceasefire, a safe passage for Hamas leaders out of Gaza, the release of all remaining detainees, and an effective end to the war. The alternative to this deal was a renewed Israeli military campaign to dismantle the group.
Trump and his advisers had hoped for a breakthrough before his address to Congress on Tuesday, but Hamas’s response was deemed insufficient.
The negotiations also addressed specific details, such as the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for Alexander’s safe return—something Israel did not agree to.
While Netanyahu initially dismissed the idea that the U.S. would engage directly with Hamas, he and his advisers became increasingly concerned once it became a reality, according to a source familiar with his thinking.
In what sources described as a “tense” call, Dermer objected to Boehler making such proposals without Israel’s approval. Boehler reassured Dermer that he was nowhere near reaching a deal with Hamas and that he understood Israel’s conditions, according to a source with direct knowledge.
An Israeli official claimed that Dermer’s intense call with Boehler prompted the White House to reconsider its approach.
Three family members of American hostages told Axios that they had pressured the Biden administration for months to engage directly with Hamas to negotiate a separate deal for their loved ones’ release.
A former U.S. official told Axios that the Biden administration did not believe such talks would yield results and was concerned about legitimizing Hamas, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.
When Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined efforts to broker a Gaza deal in the final days of the Biden administration, he suggested meeting directly with Hamas to speed up negotiations. However, this ultimately did not happen at the time, according to an Israeli official and a former U.S. official.
Trump and his advisers held a lengthy meeting on Wednesday regarding the Hamas talks and decided they needed to send a strong public message. A U.S. official said the goal was to pressure Hamas into making concessions while clarifying that the U.S. stance on the group had not changed.
On Wednesday evening, shortly after meeting with a group of freed hostages, Trump issued a new public ultimatum to Hamas to release all remaining detainees. He wrote on Truth Social: “This is your final warning!”
On Thursday, Trump defended the talks with Hamas as beneficial to Israel because “we are talking about Israeli hostages.”
Witkoff, who is set to travel to the region early next week, stated on Thursday that securing Alexander’s release was the administration’s “top priority,” noting that Alexander was injured. He said that “a good humanitarian gesture from Hamas” regarding Alexander “would give them a lot of political capital” and confirmed that there was a “deadline” for Hamas to agree to the deal.
Trump’s envoy warned that if Hamas did not take a “more reasonable” approach, Israel would take “some actions” in response.
