The National February 17, 2025
On his maiden trip to the Middle East since his appointment to the Trump administration, Rubio met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, who said the two nations had a «common strategy» for Gaza’s future after 15 months of war, recently brought to a pause under a fragile ceasefire agreement which began on January 19.
The meeting came only weeks after Trump floated his plan to permanently displace the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza and turn the enclave into the «Riviera of the Middle East», a plan supported by Netanyahu.
«We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,» Netanyahu said after the meeting. «I want to assure everyone who’s now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full co-operation and co-ordination between us.»
Arab and world leaders have condemned any action which removes the Palestinian people from their homeland. Egypt and Jordan, which Trump said should take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, issued strong statements against the idea and insisted the only route to peace is a Palestinian state.
Rubio said he believed Arab states were «working in good faith» but insisted Hamas must have no future role in the enclave.
The visit – after which Rubio is expected to head to the UAE and Saudi Arabia – came after a testing week for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, during which the group threatened to delay a planned hostage-for-prisoner swap, citing repeated Israeli violations of the truce agreement.
But on Saturday, three civilian captives were swapped for 369 Palestinian detainees, mostly Gazans jailed during the war, but also some serving life sentences over attacks on Israelis. Talks are due to begin soon on the second phase of the ceasefire.
Netanyahu, the subject of an arrest warrant for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, visited Washington this month. On Saturday night his country took delivery of a batch of US-made bombs, after the previous Biden administration blocked a shipment of heavy 900kg ordnance.
The pair also put up a united front on Iran, with Netanyahu saying their nations stand «shoulder to shoulder» against its aggression in the Middle East. Iran has attacked Israel directly twice since the start of the Gaza conflict, with barrages of drones and missiles. «There can never be a nuclear Iran, a nuclear Iran that could then hold itself immune from pressure and from action,» Rubio said. «. That can never happen.»
Iran’s proxies, among them Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi group in Yemen, have also attacked Israel. «Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran,» Rubio said.
