This is an entry from: Live: Israel kills more than 430 Palestinians on Tuesday
Direct talks with Hamas are to help Israel, Trump says
6 March 2025 21:54 GMT
US President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed that his special envoy for hostage affairs held direct talks with Hamas recently about gaining the release of captives held in Gaza.
Trump, talking to reporters in the Oval Office, said the effort is aimed at helping Israel and that the US would not pay for the release of captives.
It's unclear if that was ever a notion that Hamas entertained, given the group's goal of emptying all of Israel's prisons of Palestinians by way of captive swaps.