UPDATE
Feb 17, 2025 1:30 AM CST
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday signaled that he was moving ahead with US President Trump's proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, calling it "the only viable plan to enable a different future" for the region, the AP reports. Netanyahu discussed the plan with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Rubio's visit Sunday, as the first phase of Israel's fragile ceasefire with Hamas ends in two weeks. Netanyahu's office said Israel's security Cabinet would meet Monday to discuss the second phase, and Trump later told journalists it is "up to Israel what the next step is, in consultation with me."
Feb 16, 2025 10:33 AM CST
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday fully endorsed Israel's war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas "must be eradicated" and throwing the shaky ceasefire into further doubt. Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face pushback from Arab leaders over President Trump's proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza and redevelop it under US ownership. Netanyahu has welcomed the plan, and said he and Trump have a "common strategy" for Gaza's future, the AP reports.
Echoing Trump, he said "the gates of hell would be open" if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. The remarks came two weeks before the ceasefire's first phase is set to end. The second phase, in which Hamas is to release hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, has yet to be negotiated. Rubio said Hamas cannot continue as a military or government entity. "As long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible," he said. "It must be eradicated."
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Such language could complicate talks with Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza, per the AP. Rubio is scheduled to also visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In a radio interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump's Gaza proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to come up with their own postwar plan that would be acceptable to Israel. He also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send in troops to fight Hamas. "If someone has a better plan, and we hope they do, if the Arab countries have a better plan, then that's great," Rubio said Thursday on the Clay and Buck Show. But "Hamas has guns," he added. "Someone has to confront those guys. It's not going to be American soldiers."
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