Exclusive: Suha Arafat Confirms Role In US–Hamas Talks To Free Hostage Edan Alexander
Suha Arafat, the widow of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has confirmed to Lovin Malta that she played a key role in facilitating communication between Hamas and the United States to secure the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander.
In a brief but direct comment, Arafat told Lovin Malta she was “ready and willing to play a role to stop the war in Gaza” and confirmed her involvement in backchannel mediation efforts that ultimately helped bring Alexander home.
The talks—first reported by Hezbollah-affiliated network Al Mayadeen and now corroborated by Arafat herself—mark one of the most significant quiet diplomatic moves since the October 7 attacks. Notably, Israeli officials were not part of the discussions, highlighting a growing pattern of the US operating independently in key hostage and regional negotiations.
Back in March, US envoy Adam Boehler held direct talks with Hamas with the backing of President Donald Trump. Boehler later said the meetings had been “very helpful” and refused to rule out further engagement with the Palestinian group, which the US has officially designated as a terrorist organisation since 1997.
Suha Arafat’s role is particularly striking not just for her historic connection to the Palestinian leadership, but for the context: a private citizen living abroad, stepping into a vacuum where traditional diplomatic channels appear either frozen or bypassed entirely.
The move mirrors other recent shifts in US diplomacy under Trump. In the past month, Washington has reportedly held direct, Israel-free discussions with Iran and the Houthis in Oman, another signal that the White House is pursuing its own lines of communication in the region—at times without informing, let alone involving, its closest Middle Eastern ally.
Edan Alexander, who holds dual Israeli and American citizenship, was released by Hamas and returned to Israel on 12 May. His release was one of the only instances in this war where mediation was confirmed to have yielded a tangible result—and now we know Suha Arafat was quietly involved from behind the scenes.
The 61-year-old Arafat has long distanced herself from the current Palestinian Authority, accusing its leadership of trying to silence her. But her involvement here suggests she still holds sway in certain corners of the Palestinian political landscape—and, perhaps more importantly, credibility in international backchannels willing to do business outside formal diplomatic corridors.
Whether this paves the way for further breakthroughs remains to be seen. But in a war defined by stalemates and hardline posturing, the quiet success of the Alexander operation—and Suha Arafat’s part in it—offers a rare glimpse of what diplomacy might still achieve when unconstrained by the usual actors.
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