US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

i24 News – The genocidal Palestinian jihadists of Hamas are not as intractable “as they’re often portrayed,” US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said in an in-depth interview published on Friday.

“We need to understand what Hamas wants and then think about what we can offer them to make them leave. That is what needs to happen here. At the start of the conflict, we heard that ‘Hamas is an ideology, and they are ready to die,’” the official told controversial media figure Tucker Carlson.

“I don’t think they are as ideologically extreme as they’re often portrayed,” Witkoff went on to say of Hamas. “They send young children who understand nothing to commit suicide with explosive belts. Once we understand that they want to live, we can talk to them more effectively.”

He said it was imperative that Hamas disarms. “They need to demilitarize, and then they might also be politically involved in Gaza.”

Of Qatar, the Gulf kingdom financing the Palestinian terror group, he said “they’re criticized for not being well-motivated. It’s preposterous. They are well-motivated. They’re good, decent people.”