TEL AVIV (AFP) – United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on the first leg of a Middle East tour, an AFP journalist reported.
Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and was due to hold talks with Israeli officials when he will highlight President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.
Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference, the top US diplomat was set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The Israeli prime minister, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The US will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire. The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.
In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.
A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha”. Washington expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s”.
