U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This meeting came as Israel’s key ally, the United States, expressed concern over recent air strikes on Qatar, actions that threaten to undermine fragile attempts to secure a Gaza ceasefire.
Rubio’s visit was initially framed as a show of solidarity, occurring just a week before a French-led summit at the United Nations aimed at recognizing a Palestinian state – a proposal strongly opposed by Netanyahu’s right-wing government.
However, discussions became more challenging after Israel’s surprise attack in Qatar last week, targeting Hamas leaders who were deliberating a new U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza. This strike reportedly caught President Donald Trump’s administration off guard.
President Trump, who has consistently supported Netanyahu over the years, reiterated his backing for Qatar on Sunday. Qatar hosts the largest U.S. air base in the region and has actively sought favor with the U.S. President, even presenting him with a luxury jet.
“Qatar has been a very great ally. Israel and everyone else, we have to be careful. When we attack people we have to be careful,” Trump told reporters.
Before his press address with Netanyahu, Rubio stated upon leaving Washington that the U.S. was “obviously not happy” about the strike. He added, “Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next.”
Rubio also indicated he would discuss Israeli military plans for taking Gaza City, the largest urban center in the devastated territory, and the government’s rhetoric about annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, which could jeopardize the prospect of a Palestinian state.
He conveyed that President Trump desires the Gaza conflict to be “finished with,” which entails securing the release of hostages and ensuring Hamas no longer poses a threat.
The current conflict began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,219 deaths, predominantly civilians, according to official figures. Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza has led to at least 64,871 deaths, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which the United Nations deems credible.
‘Eternal capital’
The United States has refrained from joining European nations in pressuring Israel to halt its offensive, a move many fear will worsen the already severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Most of its 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since the war began.
Despite American objections to the Qatar strike, Rubio commenced his visit on Sunday with another gesture of support, joining Netanyahu at the Western Wall, a site considered Judaism’s holiest place of prayer.
Alongside Rubio, Netanyahu affirmed that the Israel-U.S. alliance has “never been stronger” and is “as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched.”
Rubio, a devout Catholic, later shared on social media his conviction that Jerusalem is Israel’s “eternal capital.” Historically, before Trump’s first term, U.S. leaders typically avoided such direct endorsements of Israeli sovereignty over the disputed city, which holds sacred significance for Muslims and Christians alike. Trump controversially moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, departing from established international practice.
Hamas condemned Rubio’s visit as a “blatant assault on the sanctity” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Muslim holy site located above the Western Wall, and a “flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo in occupied Jerusalem.”
Controversial tunnel
Rubio is also scheduled to attend the inauguration of a tunnel for religious tourists that runs beneath the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan to the holy sites. This project has sparked alarm among Palestinian residents, who fear it could further erode their presence in the area, allowing Israelis to bypass Palestinian communities and potentially compromising the structural integrity of their homes.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a 63-year-old community spokesman in Silwan, suggested that Rubio should instead witness homes like his own that have been demolished by Israel in what Palestinians contend is a deliberate effort to displace them. Abu Diab criticized the U.S., stating, “Instead of siding with international law, the United States is going the way of extremists and the far right and ignoring our history.” Rubio, however, downplayed the political implications, describing the tunnel as part of “one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.”