Rubio says US hostage envoy's direct meeting with Hamas was 'one-off'

11/3/2025 6:16

President Donald Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler's direct meetings with Palestinian militant group Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza was a

"one-off situation" and as of now "hasn't borne fruit," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.



"That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so. He did so," Rubio told reporters en route to Saudi Arabia.



"As of now, it hasn't borne fruit. Doesn't mean he was wrong to try, but our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he's doing through Qatar," Rubio said, in reference to Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.



The discussions between Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups the U.S. brands as terrorist organizations.