US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Sunday, has fully approved the objectives of the War of Israel in the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the future of the ceasefire trembling in a doubt.
Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face the achievements of Arab leaders on the proposal of American president Donald Trump to transfer the Palestinian population outside the band of Gaza and redevelop it under the United States ownership of the United States.
Netanyahu praised the plan and said that he and Trump had a “common strategy” for the future of Gaza. Echoing Trump, he said that “the doors of hell would be open” if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining hostages removed in its October 7, 2023, which sparked the war.
Their remarks intervened just two weeks before the end of the first phase of the ceasefire. The second phase, in which Hamas must release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a sustainable truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, has not yet been negotiated.
Rubio said Hamas “cannot continue as military or government force”.
“As long as it is a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by the use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” said Rubio. “It must be eradicated.”
Such a language could complicate efforts to continue the talks with Hamas, which, despite heavy losses in the war, remains intact and the control of Gaza.
3 Palestinians reported killed in air strike
The Israeli army said that it had made an air strike on Sunday on people who approached its forces in southern Gaza. The Interior Ministry managed by Hamas said that the strike had killed three of its police when they obtained the entrance to rescue trucks near Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
Hamas said this attack was a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and accused Netanyahu of having tried to sabotage the agreement.
The resumption of war could be a death sentence for the remaining hostages and may not succeed in destroying Hamas, which survived a 15-month Israeli assault and quickly reaffirmed control over Gaza when the ceasefire settled last month.
Netanyahu made the disposal to resume war after the current stage and offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send its main leaders in exile. Hamas has rejected such a scenario.
Netanyahu has not yet approved the entrance to mobile houses and heavy machines in the Gaza Strip, as required by the cease-fire agreement.
Hamas had threatened to maintain the release of hostages last week on the issue, which raises fears that the ceasefire could collapse, before proceeding to the release of three captives according to what he has said that he is insurance of the Arab mediators.
Hamas activists released three Israeli male hostages on Saturday and Israeli forces began to release hundreds of prisoners in return after Egyptian and Qatari mediators helped to avoid a confrontation that threatened to flow a fragile ceasefire in Gaza . Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7460415.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with regulations, said the question would be discussed in the coming days and that Israel coordinated with the United States.
Delayed Munitions in the United States arrive
In another sign of the two rows of closure of the two allies, the Israeli Defense Ministry said it had received an expedition of 900 kilograms MK-84 Munitions in the United States. The Biden administration had interrupted an expedition of these bombs last year for concerns concerning civilian victims in Gaza.
In an interview on the radio last week, Rubio said that Trump’s proposal was partially aimed at putting pressure on the Arab states to propose their own post-war plan that would be acceptable to Israel, which says that Hamas does not may have no role in Gaza.
He also seemed to suggest that the Arab countries send troops to fight Hamas.
“If someone has a better plan, and we hope that if the Arab countries have a better plan, then it’s great,” said Rubio Thursday Clay and Buck Show.
But “Hamas has weapons,” he added. “Someone has to face these guys. They will not be American soldiers. And if the countries of the region cannot understand this play, then Israel will have to do it and then we are back where we were I was .
Rubio was not planned to meet Palestinians during his trip.
Arab summit to discuss reconstruction
For Arab leaders, facilitate the mass expulsion of the Palestinians or fight Palestinian activists in the name of Israel are both nightmarish scenarios. Either would open them to ferocious domestic critics and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt affirms that it will organize an Arab summit on February 27 and will work with other countries on a counter-protection which would allow Gaza to rebuild without withdrawing its population. Human rights groups claim that the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
At a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to see the United States to have the Gaza Strip, develop it in the Middle East Riviera ” and Permanently moving the Palestinians who live there.
Egypt has warned that any mass of mass of Gaza Palestinians would undermine its peace treaty by almost half a century with Israel, an cornerstone of American influence in the region.
The Arab and Muslims countries have so far conditioned any support for Gaza from post-war period to a return to Palestinian governance with a path to the state in Gaza, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories that Israel has seized in the war of the Middle East of 1967.
The Biden administration spent months 2007.
Hamas said he was willing to abandon power in Gaza but insisted on the Palestinian regime.
Rubio should also visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the regional heavy goods vehicles that have rejected any mass displacement of the Palestinians and would be the key of any regional response.
