JERUSALEM (AP):
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio fully endorsed Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the future of 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 Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it under US ownership.
Netanyahu has welcomed the plan, and said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza’s future. Echoing Trump, he said “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in its October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.
Their remarks came just two weeks before the first phase of the ceasefire is set to end. The second phase, in which Hamas is to release dozens of remaining 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 force”.
“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,” Rubio said. “It must be eradicated.”
Such language could complicate efforts to continue talks with Hamas, which, despite suffering heavy losses in the war, remains intact and in control of Gaza.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it carried out an air strike early Sunday on people who approached its forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said the strike killed three of its policemen while they were securing the entry of aid trucks near Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
Hamas said that attack was a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and accused Netanyahu of trying to sabotage the deal.
DOOM REMAINING HOSTAGES
Resuming the war could be a death sentence for the remaining hostages and may not succeed in annihilating Hamas, which survived a 15-month Israeli onslaught and quickly reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire took hold last month.
Netanyahu has signalled readiness to resume the war after the current stage, and has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send its top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected such a scenario.
Netanyahu also has yet to approve the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery into the Gaza Strip, as required by the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas had threatened to hold up the release of hostages last week over the issue, raising fears the ceasefire could unravel, before proceeding with the release of three captives based on what it said were assurances from Arab mediators.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the issue would be discussed in the coming days and that Israel was coordinating with the United States.
In another sign of the two allies closing ranks, Israel’s defence ministry said it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogramme) MK-84 ammunitions from the United States. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
In a radio interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to come up with their own post-war plan that would be acceptable to Israel, which says Hamas can have no role in Gaza.
He also appeared to suggest that Arab countries should send in troops to combat 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 on 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. And if the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been.”
Rubio was not scheduled to meet with any Palestinians on his trip.
