Axios talked about the secret negotiations between the United States and Hamas about hostages in Gaza

Presidential Administration USA Donald Trump is conducting non-public direct negotiations with the Palestinian Hamas movement on the release of American hostages held in the Gaza Strip and the possibility of a deal to end the conflict. This was announced on March 5 by the Axios with a link to sources.

As noted in the article, Trump's special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Beler, has held several meetings with Hamas representatives in recent weeks in Doha. One of the sources noted that "while the Trump administration was consulting with Israel about the possibility of cooperating with Hamas, Israel learned about aspects of the negotiations through other channels."

White House Special Representative Steve Witkoff also planned a trip to Doha to meet with the Qatari Prime Minister and discuss cease-fire negotiations, but canceled the trip on Tuesday, March 4, realizing that there was no progress on the part of Hamas, the portal wrote.

"Trump's approach to the conflict is radically different from the strategy of former US President Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly threatened Hamas with terrible retribution and expressed ideas about a possible takeover of the Gaza Strip. Direct negotiations with Hamas, especially without coordination with Israel, are a step that previous American leaders did not take," the article noted.

It is clarified that at the moment, Hamas continues to hold 59 hostages, 35 of whom, according to the Israeli army, are already dead. 22 hostages, according to Israeli intelligence, are still alive, the status of two people is unknown. Five Americans are among the remaining hostages.

Phase two shift: Israel and Hamas plan to extend truce deal

At the same time, Tel Aviv refuses to fulfill one of the key conditions of the first stage of the agreements.

Earlier, on March 4, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that the Israeli army may resume military operations in the Gaza Strip in a week and a half if Hamas does not agree to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire agreement with the release of all hostages.

On March 2, it was reported that the Defense Army Israel (The IDF) suspended humanitarian aid in Gaza after Hamas's refusal to accept the US plan to continue negotiations. It was noted that this decision was made by the government in coordination with the Trump administration. Hamas, in turn, called Israel's decision to stop the import of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip href="https://iz.ru/1847485/2025-03-02/hamas-nazvalo-desevym-santazom-resenie-izraila-priostanovit-vvoz-gumpomosi-v-gazu"> cheap blackmail.