As Rubio visits, Netanyahu praises Trump’s ‘bold’ Gaza vision
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (left) welcoming US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as America's top diplomat arrives in Israel on Feb 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM – Israel and the United States have a common approach to Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, praising President Donald Trump’s “bold vision” for the territory after talks on Feb 16 with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Washington’s top diplomat is on his first visit to the Middle East, a trip that comes after Mr Trump made a widely condemned proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its more than two million residents.
“We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Mr Netanyahu told reporters after their meeting, adding that the two leaders had a “common strategy” for the future of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
The scheme that Mr Trump outlined earlier in February, while Mr Netanyahu visited Washington, lacked details.
Mr Trump said Palestinians had “lived a miserable existence” in Gaza and suggested the coastal territory could become the “Riviera of the Middle East”
Mr Netanyahu warned that Israel would “open the gates of hell” in Gaza unless all hostages were returned, echoing Mr Trump, who said “hell” would break out if Hamas failed to release them.
Mr Rubio arrived hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners – the sixth swop under a fragile ceasefire which the US helped mediate along with Qatar and Egypt.
“At any moment, the fighting could resume. We hope that the calm will continue and that Egypt will pressure Israel to prevent them from restarting the war and displacing people,” said Mr Nasser al-Astal, 62, a retired teacher in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.
The US, Israel’s top ally and weapons supplier, has said it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments but insists that, for now, “the only plan is Trump’s”.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Feb 16 said the establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only guarantee” of lasting Middle East peace.
Mr Rubio is also due to visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Overnight, Israel said it received a shipment of US-made bombs
Brink of collapse
Hamas and Israel are implementing the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire that nearly collapsed last week.
Israel had warned Hamas that it must free three living hostages by the weekend or face a renewed offensive, after the Islamist group said it would pause releases over what it described as Israeli truce violations.
The freed hostages – Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, 29; and Israeli-Argentine Iair Horn, 46 – returned to emotional reunions with their families.
Earlier, flanked by Hamas fighters, they carried gift bags from their captors and urged further exchanges.
The Palestinian prisoners Israel freed were mostly Gazans detained during the war, but some were serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis.
Footage aired by Israeli media showed Palestinian prisoners in sweatshirts bearing a Star of David and the slogan: “We will not forget and we will not forgive.”
They tore them off upon reaching Gaza and burned them in a bonfire at the reception point in Khan Yunis.
Since the truce began in January, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Out of 251 people seized in Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.
Heightened tensions
Negotiations on a second phase of the truce, aimed at securing a more lasting end to the war, could begin this week in Doha, a Hamas official and another source familiar with the talks have said.
Mr Trump has warned of repercussions for neighbouring Egypt and Jordan unless they accept displaced Gazans under his plan.
Diplomats say Egypt is leading efforts to propose an alternative within weeks, focused on training a new security force and appointing local Palestinian leaders.
Mr Rubio said he believed Arab states were “working in good faith”.
On Feb 16, speaking alongside Mr Netanyahu, he said: “Hamas cannot continue as a military or a government force... They must be eliminated.”
The Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,264 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
On Feb 16, Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed three police officers near south Gaza’s Rafah. Israel said it struck “several armed individuals” in south Gaza.
It is at least the second Israeli air strike in Gaza since the ceasefire began. AFP
