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Report: US Holds Secret Talks with Hamas on Gaza Hostages

Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (AFP)
Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Report: US Holds Secret Talks with Hamas on Gaza Hostages

Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (AFP)
Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (AFP)

The Trump administration has been conducting secret talks with the Palestinian group Hamas on the possibility of releasing US hostages being held in Gaza, two sources briefed on the conversations told Reuters.

US special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler has been holding the direct talks with Hamas in recent weeks in Doha, the sources said, confirming a report by Axios.

Until recently the US had avoided direct discussions with the group. The US State Department designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.

Such talks run counter to long-standing US policy against direct contacts with groups that Washington lists as terrorist organizations.

The previous US role in helping to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza war has been dealing with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators but without any known direct communications between Washington and Hamas.

The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Boehler's office declined to comment.

It was unclear when or how the Israeli government was informed of the talks.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did representatives for Hamas.

The sources said the talks have focused on gaining the release of American hostages still held in Gaza, but one said they also have included discussions about a broader deal to release all remaining hostages and how to reach a long-term truce.

One of the sources said the effort includes an attempt to gain the release of Edan Alexander, of Tenafly, New Jersey, believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas.

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff plans to return to the region in coming days to work out a way to either extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.

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Arab World

Fidan, Barrack Discuss Merging of SDF in Syrian Army, Erdogan Warns of Israeli Violations

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
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Fidan, Barrack Discuss Merging of SDF in Syrian Army, Erdogan Warns of Israeli Violations

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack meet on Tuesday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack held talks on Tuesday on the latest developments in Syria a year after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

They discussed the measures needed to establish stability in Syria and maintain its territorial integrity.

Turkish sources said the meeting focus primarily on the implementation of the agreement between Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Abdi Mazloum on the merger of the Kurdish forces in the Syrian army.

The agreement was signed in Damascus in March and should have been completed by December.

Fidan and Barrack also tackled the Israeli violations and attacks against Syria and their “negative impact on its stability and unity.” They discussed sanctions on Syria and the support for political steps during the country’s transition, added the sources.

Fidan had on Saturday accused Israel of “encouraging” the SDF to renege on the March agreement.

In a televised interview, he warned that the developments in southern Syria were the “greatest danger.” He explained that the problem isn’t in the extent of the developments, but in how Israel has intervened in them.

The danger in Syria could impact Türkiye, he added.

He stressed the need for the SDF to fulfill its commitments to the March agreement and to dissolve itself and for its foreign fighters to leave Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned on Tuesday the Israeli violations in Syria, saying they were the “greatest obstacle” to the country’s security and stability at the time and for the long-term.

Speaking before ambassadors to Türkiye, he vowed that Ankara will continue to support Damascus “as it has always done”.

He echoed Fidan’s demand on the SDF to commit to the March agreement, saying any delay will lead to a new crisis in Syria.

He also slammed the international silence over the “massacres that were committed in Syria” during its 13 years of civil war.

Throughout those years, “except for a few with a real conscience, we didn’t hear anything from the supporters of democracy and defenders of human rights,” he added.

Arab World

Sudanese Powers Sign Declaration of Principles to End the War 

The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Sudanese Powers Sign Declaration of Principles to End the War 

The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The gatherers in Nairobi held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The political and civilian parties of Sudan’s Somoud alliance signed in Nairobi on Tuesday a joint declaration of principles with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, led by Abdul Wahid al-Nur, and the Arab Socialist Baath Party to end the war in Sudan and completely eliminate the Islamic movement from politics.

The declaration is the first act of rapprochement between Sudanese parties that are opposed to the ongoing war between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Former Prime Minister and Somoud leader Abdalla Hamdok was among the signatories.

The declaration said that “there can be no military solution to the crisis”, urging the immediate end to the war.

It called for greater pressure to be applied on the military and RSF to end the conflict and commit to the roadmap drafted by the international Quad that includes Saudi Arabia, the US, United Arab Emirates and Egypt in August.

The declaration called for the swift implementation of a proposed three-month humanitarian truce and for an unconditional ceasefire.

Sudan Liberation Movement/Army deputy leader Abdullah Harran said the signatories of the declaration agreed on the need to expand it further and to bring in more parties to sign it, excluding the ousted National Congress.

Harran told a press conference that the declaration aims to establish a wide popular civilian base that will embark on a transitional phase, leading up to holding free and transparent elections.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army holds some regions in central Darfur and has extended its influence in northern parts of the province. It has received tens of thousands of refugees from el-Fasher in areas under its control.

Leading member of the Arab Socialist Baath Party Wajdi Saleh said the gatherers in Nairobi agreed on a “unified vision” to end the war.

They signed three documents, he revealed. The first is the declaration of principles to build a new nation, the second is a roadmap to stop the war and the third aims to designate the National Congress and Islamic movement as terrorist.

Moreover, he declared that the warring parties would be barred from taking part in the democratic transition.

The gatherers held the warring parties and their allies fully responsible for any violations and war crimes, calling on regional and international powers, led by the Quad, to intervene decisively to implement a humanitarian truce.

Arab World

Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
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Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)

An Israeli settler shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian in Tuqu' on Tuesday after the funeral of another teenager, the town's mayor said.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have increased sharply, with the UN reporting the highest number of attacks on record in October.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Muheeb Jibril's death on Tuesday.

"Today, after the funeral of 16-year-old Ammar Sabah, who was killed yesterday by the Israeli army in the town center, a number of youths were gathered by the main street when a settler shot 16-year-old Muheeb Jibril in the head," Tuqu' Mayor Mohammed al-Badan told Reuters by telephone.

Israeli forces killed Sabah on Monday during a military raid on the town, the Palestinian health ministry said. The military said the incident was under review. It said rocks were thrown at soldiers who used riot dispersal means and later responded with fire.

The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled there.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

Israel denies the illegality of the settlements, citing biblical and historical connections to the land.