US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Sunday, fully approved the objectives of the Israel conflict in the Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the Tremblant cease that the talks on its second phase are still starting.
Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face editors of Arab leaders on the proposal of the American president Donald Trump to transfer the Palestinian population of Gaza and to rearrange it under American property.
Netanyahu welcomed the plan and said that he and Trump had a “common strategy” for Gaza. Echoing Trump, he declared that “the doors of hell would be open” if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining hostages removed in the attack on the militant group against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the 16 -month conflict.
The first phase of the ceasefire should end in two weeks and the second phase has not yet been negotiated, although talks were to start two weeks ago. In the second phase, Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a sustainable truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces
Trump’s special envoy in the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that “phase two would absolutely begin” and that he had “very productive” calls on Sunday with Netanyahu and Egypt officials and Egypt and Egypt and Egypt From Qatar, which serve as mediators, the continuation of talks this week. He also said that hostages will be released include 19 Israeli soldiers and “we think everyone is alive”.
Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli security firm would meet on Monday to discuss the second phase. Netanyahu also asked negotiators to leave on Monday for Cairo to discuss the implementation of the first phase.
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,” he said. “It must be eradicated.”
Hamas reaffirmed Gaza control when the ceasefire settled last month despite heavy losses.
Rubio should also visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, political heavyweights in the region.
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.
The resumption of the conflict could condemn the hostages
This week marks 500 days of the conflict. Netanyahu marked the disposition to resume the fighting after the current phase of the ceasefire, although it could be a death sentence for the remaining hostages.
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Netanyahu offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send her main leaders in exile. Hamas rejected this scenario and insists on Palestinian domination. The spokesperson Abdul Latif Al-Qanou told the Associated Press that the group accepts a government of Palestinian unit or a technocratic committee to manage Gaza.
Last week, Hamas threatened to hold the release of hostages this weekend because Netanyahu has not yet approved the entrance to mobile houses and heavy machines in Gaza, as required by the agreement of ceasefire. An Israeli official said on condition of anonymity in accordance with the regulations that the question would be discussed in the coming days, and that Israel was coordinating with the United States.
In another closing classification sign, the Israeli Defense Ministry said it had received an MK-84 (900 kilograms) ammunition expedition from the United States. The Biden administration had interrupted an expedition of these bombs last year for concerns concerning civilian victims in Gaza.
‘If someone has a better plan … it’s great’
In an interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s Gaza’s proposal was partially aimed at putting pressure on the Arab states to make their own post-conflict plan that would be acceptable to Israel.
Rubio also seemed to suggest that 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 on Thursday on the “Clay and Buck Show”.
But “Hamas has firearms,” 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 so. »»
Rubio should not meet the Palestinians during his trip to the Middle East.
Arabs have limited options
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Gaza Palestinians or fighting Palestinian activists in the name of Israel are nightmarish scenarios which would lead to a fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt will host an Arab summit on February 27 and will work with other countries outstanding which would allow Gaza to rebuild without withdrawing its population. Human rights groups claim that the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt warned that any mass of mass of Gaza Palestinians would undermine its peace treaty by almost half-century with Israel, an cornerstone of American influence in the region.
The Arab and Muslims countries have conditioned any support for Gaza Post-Conflit on a return to Palestinian governance with a path to the State in Gaza, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories that Israel has grasped in the conflict of the Middle -Orient from 1967.
Israel excluded a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Palestinian authority supported by the West, whose forces were driven out when Hamas took power in 2007.
Rubio to visit regional heavy goods vehicles
Saudi water and Arabia have rejected any mass displacement of the Palestinians and would be the key of any regional response.
The United Arab Emirates were the engine of the accusation of Abraham 2020 in which four Arab states – Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan – normalized relations with Israel during the previous term of Trump. Trump hopes to extend the agreements to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer American defense ties, but the kingdom has declared that it will not normalize relations with Israel without a way to a Palestinian state.
Rubio will not visit Egypt or Jordan, close the American allies in peace with Israel who refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump suggested that he could reduce us the help of us if they do not comply, which could be devastating for their savings.
Rubio also jumps out Qatar.
–Natalie Melzer reported Nahariya, Israel. The writer Associated Press, Samy Magdy, contributed to this Cairo report.
