White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Doha on Tuesday evening in an effort to broker a new hostage-release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, two U.S. officials said. Why it matters: The talks would be the first since President Trump took office and since the original agreement between Israel and Hamas that established a 42-day ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of 33 hostages in its first phase,

The U.S. has a longstanding policy against negotiating directly with a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a designation given to Hamas by the U.S. government in 1997.

Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha came as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire hangs in the balance. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide details on the ...