LIVE: White House Major Update on Hamas | Zelensky Ukraine Deal | Witkoff, Leavitt | Trump | N18G

LIVE: White House Confirms US Holds Unprecedented Secret Talks With Hamas On Gaza | Israel | CNBC TV18Q WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefing. The Trump administration has been conducting secret talks with the militant Palestinian group Hamas on the possibility of releasing U.S. hostages being held in Gaza, two sources briefed on the conversations told Reuters. U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler held the the direct negotiations with Hamas in Doha, Qatar in recent weeks, the sources said. Until recently the U.S. had avoided direct engagement with the Islamist group, which carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that triggered a devastating Gaza war. The secret talks being held by Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler are unprecedented, as the US has never before engaged directly with Hamas, which Washington designated as a terror group in 1997. The talks have been taking place in Doha in recent weeks, Axios said, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations, and adding that no deal has been reached. In January, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said publicly that the terror group is prepared to open a dialogue with the Trump administration. #hamas #whitehouse #trump #israelhamaswar #middleeast #usatoday #cnbctv18