WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff confirmed Thursday the Trump administration has been in direct talks with Hamas.

“The president was pretty blunt. It’s time for Hamas to act in a responsible and reasonable way,” said Witkoff.

It’s the first known direct engagement between the U.S. and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.

The talks, which took place last month, focused mainly on the release of American hostages and a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza, according to a Hamas official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Witkoff said the U.S. would not allow Hamas to “be a part of” any potential government formed in Gaza.

Witkoff did not say what would happen next — only that “there’s going to be some action.”