Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed for Israel on Sept. 13, announcing a renewed effort to win the return of hostages taken by Hamas and address humanitarian concerns after nearly two years of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
“On my way to Jerusalem. My focus will be on securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas,” Rubio said in a post on X on Saturday afternoon.
“Hamas cannot continue to exist if peace in the region is the goal.”
Rubio’s visit comes on the heels of an Israeli strike on the Qatari capital of Doha that targeted Hamas leadership there. Hamas officials had recently received a U.S. proposal to secure the release of hostages remaining in Gaza.
Following the Sept. 9 Israeli strike on Doha, Hamas issued a statement asserting that the attack proved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government “do not want to reach any agreement.”
The Qatari monarchy, which has acted as a mediator for negotiations between Israel and Hamas, also condemned the Israeli strike.
Before the Sept. 9 Israeli strike on Doha, President Donald Trump had said his administration was in “very deep negotiations with Hamas” to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza.
The U.S. president said Israel acted alone in its strike on Doha. He said eliminating Hamas remains a worthy goal, but assured Qatari leaders that such a strike would not occur again on their soil.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump wrote in a Sept. 9 post on his Truth Social platform.
Qatar has played a key role hosting U.S. forces in the region. In June, U.S. forces stationed at Al Udeid Air Base defended against an Iranian missile barrage that Tehran ordered in retaliation for a U.S. strike that targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani visited the United States on Sept. 12 and met with Trump, Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Speaking with reporters before his departure on Saturday, Rubio said his focus will be on helping win the release of 48 hostages, the permanent defeat of Hamas, and rebuilding the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Rubio acknowledged he would also have to address how the Israeli strike on Qatar’s capital would impact the discussions surrounding the Gaza conflict.
Rubio said that, despite the Doha strike, the U.S.–Israeli relationship remains strong.
“Sometimes things happen or come up in those relationships that perhaps we’re not 100 percent aligned with, or unhappy. But it’s not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis. But we are going to have to talk about it,” he said.
Rubio’s visit to Israel also comes amid mounting pressure in the international community for recognition of a Palestinian state.
The Trump administration has argued that international recognition of a Palestinian state would amount to a reward for Hamas.
Speaking with reporters in Ecuador last week, Rubio warned that Israel could respond to international recognition of a Palestinian state by annexing the West Bank, a territory viewed as the heart of the Palestinian statehood claim. Additionally, Rubio warned that a move to legitimize the cause of Palestinian statehood could also undermine efforts to end the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“We told all these countries, before they went out and they did this—we told them that if they did this, they went through with this thing, there wasn’t going to be a Palestinian state because that’s not the way a Palestinian state is going to happen—because they have a press conference somewhere,” Rubio said on Sept. 5. “And we told them that it would lead to these sort of reciprocal actions and it would make a cease-fire harder.”
