U.S. holding secret talks with Hamas

 https://www.axios.com/2025/03/05/us-hamas-talks-gaza-war-israel

The talks have focused in part on the release of U.S. hostages, which is within Boehler's remit as hostage envoy.

But they have also included discussions of a broader deal to release all remaining hostages and reach a long-term truce, the sources say. No deal has yet been reached.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff also planned to travel to Doha this week to meet the prime minister of Qatar about the ceasefire negotiations but canceled the trip on Tuesday night after he saw there was no progress from Hamas' side, a U.S. official said.

Between the lines: Trump's approach to the conflict has differed sharply from President Biden's, including repeatedly threatening "hell to pay" for Hamas and proposing a U.S. "takeover" of Gaza.

Directly negotiating with Hamas — particularly without buy-in from Israel — is another step previous administrations have not taken.