U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio fully recognized Israel's conflict targets on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated” and put the shaky ceasefire in further doubt as to its second The negotiations at the stage have not yet begun.
Rubio meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of a regional tour, where he will likely be on the proposal of U.S. President Donald Trump Facing the proposal by Arab leaders to transfer the Palestinian population from Gaza and redevelop it in accordance with U.S. ownership.
Netanyahu welcomed the plan and said he and Trump had a “common strategy” for Gaza. “The gates of hell will be open” in his response to Trump, which triggers 16 if Hamas kidnapped dozens of hostages in an October 7, 2023 attack on militant groups on southern Israel The conflict of the month.
The first phase of the ceasefire will end in two weeks, and the second phase has not yet been negotiated, although the negotiations were supposed to begin two weeks ago. In the second phase, Hamas will release dozens of hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a protracted truce and evacuation of Israeli forces
Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that “the second phase will definitely start”, with him on Sunday with Netanyahu and Egypt and Qatar Officials made “very productive” calls, and those officials were mediators, and they continued to negotiate. This week. He also said that the hostages to be released include 19 Israeli soldiers, “We believe that all are alive.”
Netanyahu's office said Israel's security cabinet will meet on Monday to discuss the second phase. Netanyahu also directed negotiators to travel to Cairo on Monday to discuss further implementation of the first phase.
Rubio said Hamas could not continue to serve as an army or government force.
“As long as it is a force that can rule or manage or may be threatened by the use of violence, it becomes impossible,” he said. “It must be eliminated.”
Despite the huge losses, Hamas regained control of Gaza when it occupied the ceasefire last month.
Rubio will also visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the region's political heavyweights.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said air strikes were carried out on Sunday on people approaching southern Gaza. The Hamas-run interior ministry said the strike killed three of the policemen while they brought AIDS trucks near Rafa on the Egyptian border into the Egyptian border.
Restoration of conflict may be doomed to people
This week is 500 days of conflict. Netanyahu said it was ready to resume combat during the ceasefire phase, although this could be the death penalty for the remaining hostages.
Get national news
For news that affects Canada and around the world, please sign up for breaking news alerts that were sent directly to you at the time.
Netanyahu offers Hamas the opportunity to surrender and exile its top leaders. Hamas rejected the situation and insisted on Palestinian rule. Spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou told the Associated Press that the group accepts the Palestinian Solidarity Government or the Technological Bureaucratic Council to operate Gaza.
Last week, Hamas threatened to insist on the release of hostages this weekend, as Netanyahu has not yet incorporated mobile homes and heavy machines into Gaza as required by the ceasefire agreement. An Israeli official said the condition of anonymity would be discussed in the coming days, and Israel is coordinating with the United States.
Israel's Ministry of Defense said another sign of it was receiving shipments of 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of MK-84 ammunition from the United States. Last year, the Biden administration suspended such bombs over concerns about casualties among civilians in Gaza.
“If anyone has a better plan…it’s great”
Rubio said in an interview last week that Trump's Gaza proposal was partly designed to force Arab countries to develop their own post-conflict plans, which Israel is acceptable.
Rubio also appears to suggest that Arab countries send troops to attack Hamas.
“If someone has a better plan and we hope they can do it, that would be great,” Rubio said on the Clay and Bucks Show on Thursday.
But “Hamas has a gun,” he added. “Someone has to face those guys. It's not a U.S. soldier. And if the country in the region can't figure it out, then Israel will have to do it.”
Rubio has no plans to meet with the Palestinians on a trip to the Middle East.
Arabs have limited choices
For Arab leaders, promoting mass expulsions of Palestinians from Gaza or representing Israel in battle with Palestinian militants is a nightmare for Arab leaders, which will bring intense domestic criticism and potentially destroy areas that have already fluctuated.
Egypt will hold an Arab summit on February 27 and is working with other countries to oppose it, which will allow Gaza to be rebuilt without the need to revoke its population. Human rights groups say expulsion of Palestinians could violate international law.
Egypt warns that any massive influx of Palestinians from Gaza will undermine nearly half a century of peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of U.S. influence in the region.
Arab and Muslim countries have any support for post-conflict Gaza in the context of returning to the Palestinian government to govern the conflict and Israel occupied territories in the 1967 Central and Eastern conflicts in the country-building pathways in Gaza, the West Bank, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel excludes a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza, a Western-backed Palestinian government whose troops were deported when Hamas seized power in 2007.
Rubio visits the regional heavyweight
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have rejected any massive displacement of Palestinians, which will be key to any regional response.
The UAE is the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Agreement, in which four Arab countries (Bahrain, UAE, Morocco and Sudan) normalize relations with Israel during Trump’s last semester. Trump hopes to expand the deal to include Saudi Arabia and potentially provide closer U.S. defense ties, but the kingdom says it won't normalize relations with Israel without a path to the Palestinian state.
Rubio would not visit Egypt or Jordan to end peace with Israel, and they refused to accept any large number of Palestinian refugees. Trump suggests that if they don't comply, he could cut our aid, which could be devastating for their economy.
Rubio also skips Qatar.
–Natalie Melzer reported that it was from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed to the report from Cairo.
