Palestinian American businessman Bishara Bahbah, who played a key role in mediating between Hamas and the Trump administration and helped secure the release of former hostage Edan Alexander, denied Sunday that he resigned from the U.S. negotiation team working to end the Gaza war, saying he was never an official member.
“False news was reported about me in Israel,” Bahbah wrote on Facebook. “I am still actively working to end the brutal war in Gaza.” He added that he believes President Donald Trump wants to end the tragedy in Gaza and said he remains ready to assist in any way to achieve a ceasefire.
Bahbah clarified that he served as a mediator at the request of Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East leading the talks on behalf of the Trump administration, but was never formally part of the American negotiation team. He also dismissed reports of disagreements with Witkoff that allegedly led to his departure, saying he has “enormous respect” for the envoy and will continue his efforts to end the conflict.
In a post two days earlier addressed to Gaza’s residents, Bahbah wrote, “I am not a mediator in the full sense but share your suffering. My role is to carry your voice to all those responsible—big and small. I have not forgotten you and will not forget. Ceasefire talks are currently stalled.”
At the end of May, Bahbah promoted a ceasefire plan calling for a 70-day truce and the phased release of 10 hostages. A senior Israeli official rejected the proposal, saying no Israeli government would accept Hamas’s conditions, which undermine the war’s objectives and hinder hostage releases.
Bahbah has been the key figure in an indirect channel of communication between the U.S. and Hamas. The plan for releasing Edan Alexander, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas, originated from Hamas through this mediation route, not from the U.S. Direct negotiations collapsed after an Israeli leak aimed to derail the talks and criticism from Jerusalem.
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Following that, Razi Hamed, a senior Hamas negotiator, contacted Bahbah through Suha Arafat to propose Alexander’s release. Sources told Ynet that Hamas representatives in Doha and Gaza secured a U.S. commitment through Bahbah’s channel to pressure Israel to renew humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Bahbah was part of the Palestinian delegation during multilateral peace talks in the 1990s and has been a vocal supporter of a two-state solution. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Palestinian newspaper Al-Fajr and engaged in humanitarian work. Although he lives in the United States, Bahbah remains deeply connected to Palestine.
“It will always be my home, no matter where I live,” he told Arab News in 2018. “My children were born in the U.S., but I registered them with UNRWA. When I die, I want to be remembered as a Palestinian. It is our eternal right.”