Netanyahu says ties with US ‘never been stronger’ as Rubio visits Israel
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(From left) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visiting the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem on Sept 14.
PHOTO: AFP
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JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sept 14 that a visit to Israel by top US diplomat Marco Rubio underscored the strength of ties between the allies, days after an unprecedented Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar drew broad criticism.
The attack on the US ally and key mediator in Gaza truce talks has prompted Arab and Muslim leaders to gather for a show of solidarity in Doha, where Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, urged the world to reject “double standards”
US President Donald Trump has rebuked Israel
Nevertheless, the strike has put renewed strain on efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, and Mr Rubio said the US and Israel were “going to have to talk about” its impact.
Mr Netanyahu has defended the operation – which targeted Hamas officials gathering to discuss a new US ceasefire proposal – saying that killing the group’s leaders would remove the “main obstacle” to ending the Gaza war.
On Sept 14, Mr Rubio offered prayers at Jerusalem’s sacred Western Wall alongside Mr Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an AFP correspondent reported.
Mr Netanyahu said afterwards that the visit showed the Israeli-American alliance was “as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched”.
Under Mr Rubio and Mr Trump, “the alliance has never been stronger”, he added.
Mr Rubio’s main meetings with officials, including Mr Netanyahu, will take place on Sept 15 before he departs on Sept 16.
His visit coincides with the Sept 15 emergency summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in Qatar, whose Prime Minister addressed a preparatory meeting on Sept 14.
“The time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed,” he said, adding that Israel’s “war of extermination” in Gaza would not succeed.
“What is encouraging Israel to continue... is the silence, the inability of the international community to hold it accountable.”
Displaced Palestinians moving with their belongings on a road in the central Gaza Strip as smoke billows from Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Sept 14.
PHOTO: AFP
‘Constant terror’
In spite of mounting international criticism, Israel has in recent days ramped up efforts to seize control of Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, telling residents to evacuate and blowing up numerous high-rise buildings it said were being used by Hamas.
As at late August, the UN estimated that around one million people were living in the city and its surrounding areas, where it declared a famine it blamed on Israeli aid restrictions.
AFP images showed a column of vehicles and people on foot fleeing Gaza City southwards through a desolate landscape of destroyed buildings.
“We are living in constant terror amid relentless shelling and powerful explosions,” said Ms Sara Abu Ramadan, 20, a resident of Gaza City.
“Why such massive firepower in these rockets? What’s their goal? We are dying here, with nowhere to seek refuge... and the world just watches.”
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 45 people had been killed since dawn on Sept 14 in Israeli strikes around the territory.
Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
On Sept 12, the UN General Assembly voted to back a revival of the two-state solution
Nevertheless, Israel retains the backing of its most powerful ally and biggest arms supplier, the US.
‘Alarming passivity’
At home, opponents of the Netanyahu government have sought to pressure ministers to end the war in return for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
On Sept 13, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum – the main campaign group for the captives – accused Mr Netanyahu of being the “one obstacle” to freeing the hostages by sabotaging efforts to strike a deal.
Of the 251 people taken hostage by Palestinian militants in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
Mr Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Mr Rubio was unlikely to push Israel towards a ceasefire.
“There is an alarming passivity in actually getting to a ceasefire in Gaza,” said Mr Katulis, who worked on Middle East policy under former president Bill Clinton.
The war was sparked by Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,871 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the UN considers reliable. AFP
