U.S. "not an agent of Israel," envoy says amid objections to Hamas talks

 https://www.axios.com/2025/03/09/adam-boehler-hamas-israel-talks

U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler said Sunday that while he understands Israel's concerns over direct talks with Hamas, the U.S. is "not an agent of Israel."

Boehler assured that he was not close to a deal with Hamas after the meetings in Doha, which were largely centered around securing the release of American hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four deceased American hostages, sources told Axios.

 Boehler said he's "sympathetic" to top Israeli leaders' disapproval of his meetings, but he emphasized the U.S. is "not an agent of Israel" with "specific interests at play."

Boehler said he wanted to ascertain the vision of a "realistic" end-game for Hamas during the talks.

"The reality is what I wanted to do is jump start some negotiations that were in a very fragile place," he said.