First President Trump’s special Mideast envoy, Adam Boehler, was sidelined from Gaza hostage diplomacy after saying his Hamas interlocutors are “nice guys.” Now Mr. Trump’s top negotiator, Steve Witkoff, is admitting he was “duped” by the same Hamas officials. It’s almost as if these diplomats are developing a psychological bond with hostile hostage-takers like the Swedes who were infamously held captive in a 1973 bank heist.  

Negotiating over Gaza at Doha, Mr. Witkoff recently proposed a deal that would free five living Gaza hostages, including American Edan Alexander, for a two-month cease-fire. Hamas demurred. “I thought we had a deal, an acceptable deal,” Mr. Witkoff told Fox News Sunday. “I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting, getting, you know, duped, but, but I thought we were there, and evidently, we weren’t.”