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2025-04-19 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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US envoy: I’m sure Edan Alexander is in a decent place; we’ll come for Hamas if he’s harmed
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[IsraelTimes] Adam Boehler says he could resume direct talks with Hamas, after they fell apart in March amid Israeli pushback; claims offer he made in those talks was coordinated with Jerusalem
The Trump administration’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler speculated on Wednesday that the lone living American-Israeli hostage in Gaza is in “a decent place,” asserting that Hamas wouldn’t be “dumb” enough to harm him, as doing so would lead the US to “come after” the terror group.
Of course they are that dumb. But it’s a pretty threat, regardless. “Because I think that Hamas is not dumb… Edan [Alexander] is in a good place… Because if Edan gets sick, if Edan has a cold, guess who’s getting blamed? Hamas,” Boehler told Al Jazeera. “I hope no hair on his head is hurt, or we’re going to come for them, and it’s not going to be pretty. So I believe Edan is fine.”
The comments came four days after Hamas released a propaganda video in which a gaunt and emotional Alexander
…suggesting that wherever he is, it’s not a decent place, nor is he unharmed… pleaded with the Israeli and US governments to secure his release, after over a year and a half in captivity.
On Monday, Hamas claimed to have lost contact with the operatives holding Alexander in Gaza following an Israeli strike. It has not provided further updates on the matter.
Two bad ideas in two sentences, O Hamas. The interview was Boehler’s first on the Israel-Hamas conflict in several weeks, following uproar in Jerusalem over unprecedented direct negotiations he held with Hamas officials to release Alexander and the bodies of four other American-Israeli hostages.
Israel found out about those talks after the fact, leading Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to hold an angry call with Boehler, knocking him for negotiating on Israel’s behalf without keeping Jerusalem in the loop, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel last week.
But Boehler said in the Wednesday interview that the offer he made in early March for the five American hostages was “coordinated with Israel.”
A spokesperson for Dermer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boehler’s offer included the release of 100 of the remaining 300 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails in exchange for Alexander, the Israeli official said last week, confirming reporting from The New York Times.
“I gave Hamas an offer. It was an offer that was decided in the United States, it was coordinated with Israel,” Boehler told Al Jazeera. “Hamas, at that time, wasn’t able to get there. Then Steve came out and talked about something else, and then [Hamas] came and accepted my offer.”
Hamas on March 14 announced that it was prepared to release Alexander and four other dual nationals. By then, though, Boehler’s direct channel with Hamas had all but fallen apart. Its existence had been leaked by Israel on March 5 in order to sabotage the envoy’s effort, a US official told The Times of Israel at the time.
Even US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Boehler’s talks a “one-off,” while Witkoff avoided speaking out in Boehler’s defense, even though the latter’s talks were fully coordinated with him. Instead, Witkoff sought to advance his own hostage release proposal, which was transmitted through Qatari and Egyptian mediators. That indirect channel has yet to bear fruit, though.
Boehler gave a series of interviews on March 9 seeking to defend his direct talks with Hamas, but the TV appearances only further angered Netanyahu’s inner circle, leading Dermer to urge his US counterparts to sideline the Trump envoy, the Israeli official said.
Dermer’s effort initially appeared to work, as Boehler rescinded his nomination to become the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs on March 19. But on Wednesday, Boehler went public with the news that he had been given a slightly different title — special envoy for hostage response.
The new position doesn’t come with the rank of ambassador, but it also doesn’t require Senate confirmation, and grants him a broader mandate, allowing him to assist Americans held wrongfully abroad who don’t meet the legal definition of “hostage” or “wrongfully detained.”
With his spot in the Trump administration seemingly secure, Boehler said “it is possible” that his direct talks with Hamas could resume.
He argued that the Trump administration is principally in favor of the direct negotiation approach, explaining that it makes for faster communication with “no confusion.” The US envoy pointed to the direct talks that Washington has held with Iran and Russia, noting that negotiations with the Kremlin have led to the release of two Americans.
He urged Hamas in the Al Jazeera interview to negotiate with more urgency “and identify an offer that they know Israel and the United States can accept, and end this.”
“Hamas knows exactly where we stand, and they’re welcome to put something together that meets our criteria with hostages,” Boehler added.
He urged Hamas to release all 59 remaining hostages — 24 of whom are believed to still be alive — unilaterally.
“The fighting would end immediately if the hostages are released,” Boehler said, adding that this would allow for the rehabilitation of Palestinians to move forward.
Israel has said it will only agree to end the war if Hamas’s military and governing capabilities have been dismantled, snubbing Hamas offers to release all of the hostages at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire.
Boehler, for his part, also called for Hamas to “disarm” and defended Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza.
He also characterized the recent protests of thousands of Palestinians throughout Gaza against Hamas as “very impressive and beautiful to see.”
“It shows that moderate people in those regions are real good people [who are] willing to put their lives at risk,” he said.
…the optimistic interpretation.
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Posted by trailing wife 2025-04-19 2025-04-19 02:18||
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