(JNS) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, March 10 that a rare direct meeting between a U.S. envoy and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas was an isolated event and has yet to yield results.
“That was a one-off situation in which 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. He did so,” Rubio told reporters while traveling to Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.
Furthermore, the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler and Hamas had not led to tangible outcomes, said Rubio.
“As of now, it hasn’t borne fruit. Doesn’t mean he was wrong to try, but our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he’s doing through Qatar,” said Rubio, referring to Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who traveled to Doha, Qatar on Tuesday for ceasefire talks, joining an Israeli delegation that arrived at the Qatari capital on Monday.
Boehler confirmed on Sunday in a series of television interviews with American and Israeli media that direct talks with Hamas had indeed taken place, despite long-standing American policy against negotiating with terrorists.
“The reason that I met Hamas is because I want to work to help to get Americans and Israelis out,” he said during an interview with Israel’s Kan News, adding that he wanted to know the terror group’s demands for ending the war. “Some of the things that they talked about were relatively reasonable things and workable things,” he said.
Israeli lawmaker Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism) told JNS on Monday that Hamas would never release the hostages voluntarily.
“The only way for all the hostages to return home is to increase the pressure on Hamas, including intense military activity and stopping the flow of water and electricity,” he said. “At this point, we believe that efforts should be made to prolong Phase I [of the ceasefire deal] to bring back as many hostages as possible. After that, Israel must return to fighting Hamas and take down this evil organization once and for all.”
Israel announced on Sunday that it would be cutting off its supply of electricity to Gaza.
“I have signed an order to immediately cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip. Enough talk, it’s time for action!’” tweeted Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen.
On March 2, the Israeli government announced the suspension of all humanitarian aid to Gaza after Hamas rejected the ceasefire extension proposed by Witkoff.
