US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed the Trump administration's full support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem, declaring that Washington's priorities are the release of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas. Speaking alongside Netanyahu, Rubio avoided any mention of a ceasefire and did not repeat his earlier criticism of an Israeli airstrike in Doha that targeted Hamas leaders in Qatar, a close US ally.
Rubio is scheduled to stop in Doha on Tuesday en route to London, as the administration seeks to limit diplomatic damage from the strike. At an emergency Arab and Islamic summit in the Qatari capital, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani accused Israel of trying to derail ceasefire negotiations by assassinating the party it was negotiating with. Hamas leaders had been in Doha to discuss a US-proposed one-step deal for the release of 48 hostages, 20 believed alive and 28 dead, after Hamas accepted a phased ceasefire in August.
Rubio insisted that a peaceful outcome depended on eliminating Hamas, stating that the group must cease to exist as an armed threat to regional security. He also warned that plans by several US allies, including the UK, France, Canada, Belgium and Australia, to recognise Palestine would undermine peace efforts by emboldening militant groups. He added that Washington had cautioned such states that Israel would respond to those moves, possibly hinting at annexation in the occupied West Bank.
Rubio refrained from commenting on Israel's planned ground offensive in Gaza City, where the military has been demolishing residential blocks and ordering evacuations amid international condemnation. Tens of thousands have fled, but many of the estimated one million residents remain, with humanitarian agencies saying nowhere in Gaza is safe. The UN relief agency Unrwa reported that ten of its buildings, including seven schools and two clinics, had been hit by Israeli strikes in the past four days.
Netanyahu defended the tactics, claiming that the towers being destroyed served as Hamas strongholds and that Hamas was using residents as human shields by urging them to stay. UN human rights rapporteur Francesca Albanese said the offensive aimed to make Gaza City uninhabitable, but the Israeli mission to the UN rejected her remarks, blaming Hamas for the destruction.
