US-Hamas meeting very helpful, US envoy Boehler says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler said on Sunday that U.S. meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages held in Gaza were very helpful and he did not rule out additional encounters with the Palestinian militant group.

Boehler said his meetings with Hamas leaders in recent days were designed to pinpoint what the group's end game was with the goal of bringing hostilities to a close.

"I think it was a very helpful meeting. It was very helpful to hear some back and forth," Boehler said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

Boehler said he understood the consternation and concern expressed by Israeli official Ron Dermer about his direct contact with Hamas, but emphasized he had a clear goal in his talks.

"We're the United States. We're not an agent of Israel," Boehler said. "We have specific interests at play, and we did communicate back and forth.

"What I wanted to do is jump start some negotiations that were in a very fragile place. And I wanted to say to Hamas, what is the end game that you want here?"

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.

U.S. envoys are due in the region this week to continue talks on a ceasefire in Gaza.

Boehler said he believed something could be achieved on the Gaza hostages within weeks, but did not elaborate. He said he believes that a deal can be made in which all of the prisoners can get out, not just the Americans being held in the enclave.

Separately, Boehler said he did not know whether American journalist Austin Tice was alive in Syria.

"I'm going to go to Syria, and I'm going to do the best I can to find out," Boehler said. "If he's there. I'm going to bring him home."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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