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US hostage envoy removed from Israel role after calling Hamas ‘nice guys’

A senior U.S. official said Adam Boehler will still work on other Mideast-related matters with Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East.

State Department hostages
FBI director Kash Patel and U.S. envoy for hostages Adam Boehler participate in the U.S. hostage and wrongful detainee flag-raising at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2025. Credit: Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department.

The Trump administration has reportedly removed Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, from further hostage negotiations with the Hamas terror group in Gaza, with some GOP officials calling for him to be sidelined entirely, Jewish Insider reported.

This move comes after a media blitz in which Boehler referred to Hamas as “nice guys” and said he didn’t “really care about” the concerns of Ron Dermer, Israel’s strategic affairs minister. He also stated that the United States was “not an agent of Israel.”

After immediate backlash, he clarified his remarks on social media, claiming that people “misinterpreted” them.

“Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people,” he wrote. “They are, by definition, bad people.”

A senior U.S. official said Boehler will work on other Mideast-related matters with Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East.

Boehler currently holds the title of special envoy since he has not been officially confirmed by the Senate.

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