Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel yesterday for meetings with top Israeli officials.
Rubio began his trip with a visit to the Western Wall with Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Netanyahu, Rubio and Huckabee at the Western Wall.
Rubio said the focus of the trip is "securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas."
This morning, Rubio met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to discuss the enduring strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship and celebrate the five-year anniversary of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords.
"It is thanks to these brave agreements that, despite the greatest of challenges, the Middle East can continue on a path to an era of partnership and cooperation," Herzog said.
Rubio thanked Netanyahu for his "friendship and for the friendship that Israel has shown towards the United States. There’s so many issues we work on together that extend beyond the causes of war and peace, but advances in technology, advances in economics, and those remain strong and enduring and unwavering."
Netanyahu told Rubio that "your presence here in Israel today is a clear message that America stands with Israel."
Rubio also emphasized the challenges of negotiating with Hamas, rightly placing the blame squarely on the terror group for refusing to agree to release the hostages, lay down its arms, and surrender:
"I don’t know of anyone who would not rather see a negotiated settlement in which Hamas agrees to no longer be a terrorist group, lay down their arms, free the hostages... that would be the ideal outcome and one we would all like to see...
"But I think we have to be prepared for the fact that savage terrorists don’t normally agree to things like that... it may require ultimately a concise military operation to eliminate them.
"We have to remember who we’re dealing with here... as much as we may wish that there be a sort of a peaceful, diplomatic way to end it... we also have to be prepared for the possibility that that’s not going to happen."
Meanwhile, tonight in Israel, Rubio inaugurated a newly-excavated archeological site at the City of David National Park near Jerusalem’s Old City.
The United States must continue to stand with Israel for as long as it takes to defeat Hamas and free the hostages.
Together, America and Israel can work to expand the circle of peace in the Middle East and build a brighter future for everyone in the region.
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Civilians leave Gaza City as IDF expands operations
Nearly 300,000 civilians have left Gaza City since Israel issued evacuation notices, as it expands its ground operation in one of Hamas' last remaining strongholds. Israel is urging civilians to leave the city and move south to humanitarian aid sites.
Meanwhile, Hamas is purposefully endangering the lives of civilians by telling the residents of Gaza City "NOT to move south," using these civilians as human shields while some Hamas officials attempt to escape the strip.
Just as Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields, the terror group has also reportedly now brought Israeli hostages above ground in Gaza City to hinder the IDF's operations.
Responding to these new reports, President Trump posted:
Hamas could end the war today if it would lay down its arms, release the hostages, and surrender. Instead, it is prolonging the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Over the past six months, Israel has killed 21 senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists involved in the October 7 attack.
And over just the past month, the IDF has eliminated several Hamas terrorists and field commanders in Gaza, including Yousef Mahmoud Mohammad Jumaa, the leader "of a Hamas cell that infiltrated Kibbutz Alumim and took part in the brutal October 7th massacre."
U.S. working to renew hostage talks
The United States is working to renew hostage-ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, following a visit over the weekend by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Washington, where he met with President Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Qatar is key sponsor of Hamas, providing a safe-haven for the terror group's leaders, whom Israel attempted to eliminate in a strike in Doha on Friday.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don't care about the people in Gaza. They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war."
Hamas has for months refused to accept a U.S.-brokered agreement, already agreed to by Israel, to release hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting.
The United States and international community must increase the pressure on Hamas, not Israel, to accept a deal to release the hostages.
Hypocrisy on display at summit in Qatar
Qatar today hosted an 'emergency summit' of Arab and Islamic countries following Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar's capital, on Friday.
Among those in attendance was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Iran attacked an American military base in Qatar with a salvo of ballistic missiles just a few months ago.
"Why didn’t Qatar convene an urgent international conference when it was attacked by Iran just two months ago, right there in Doha?" Israeli journalist Amit Segal asked, adding "above all, how long will this regional hypocrisy continue, in which one is allowed to host mass murderers on their soil and then lose their mind when someone tries to assassinate them?"
President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani sign the Abraham Accords.
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