US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat stopped criticizing Israel last week for his rocket strike on Qatar, and said the priority was to make sure Hamas surrendered and disarmed to end the war in Gaza. “We are focused on what is happening now, what is happening next,” Foreign Minister Marco Rubio told reporters in Jerusalem on Monday, a proposal on which the US wants to continue the diplomatic fallout arising from the assault. One element is to determine the role that can still be played by Qatar – an American ally and a mediator between Hamas and Israel – to resolve the conflict, he said. Rubio will visit Qatar after leaving Israel on Tuesday, a senior government official said in a support of the US’s largest military base in the region. The Secretary of State spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who oversees the unprecedented attack on a Hamas composition in the Katari capital of Doha on September 9. Netanyahu has indicated that his country will continue to target members of the Palestinian militant group – which Israel is fighting for almost two years – wherever they are based. The Israeli assault killed several Hamas members and a Qatari security guard and caused panic in Doha. The move was widely condemned by Arab and European governments, which say it would further destabilize the Middle East. Trump said he was not satisfied with the operation, with the White House, adding that it did not promote “Israel or America’s goals”. “Trump said he let him know about the attack to stop the strikes and he avoided open criticism of Israel. Netanyahu said that Rubio’s journey proved the strong bond between the US and Israel. On Sunday, the two prayed at the holy western wall in Jerusalem. Rubio also attended mass at the Church of the Holy Grave. The two talked about ending the war in Gaza, which raged since the militants of Hamas Israel attacked in October 2023, and to ensure the remaining 48 Israeli hostages, of which about 20 are considered alive. Those who were targeted by Israeli Jets last week discussed a US proposal to end the conflict, which ripped the wider Middle East, destroyed a large part of Gaza and displaced most of the 2 million people from the area. Arab governments said Israel’s attack would harm the efforts to reach a ceasefire. Israeli officials argued that the operation would increase the pressure on Hamas, which has appointed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. The Doha strike came when Israel prepared to deepen an offensive in Gaza City, the de facto capital of the area and home to hundreds of thousands of people. The US has broadly supported the plan, while many of Israel’s other allies have said that it will cause more suffering for Palestinian civilians and should not occur. “Hamas can surrender tonight if they want, and lay down their weapons,” Rubio said. “We will continue to follow the route. This is the ideal outcome. But it could eventually require a concise military operation to eliminate it. ” Many Arab leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, meet in Qatar on Monday to discuss a response to the Israeli attack. It is unclear what they can do, and most analysts say they have little ways to hurt Israel economically. Qatar is one of the US’s most important allies in the Middle East. The host-rich country has offered Hamas officials for more than a decade, something that Washington has approved to improve communication with the group. More than 64,000 people have died since the beginning of the war in Gaza, according to the Hamas-managed health minister there, and a United Nations body has declared a famine in parts of the area. Hamas killed 1,200 people with his assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. © 2025 Bloomberg MP This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without editing.
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