Israel and the United States showed a unified front in the face of growing international anger over Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar and its intensifying bombardment of Gaza City. As Arab and Muslim leaders met in Doha to condemn Israel’s attack last week in Qatar and new rounds of criticism were aired over Israeli plans to occupy Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Jerusalem and downplayed the furor that had, at least for a short time, taken the Trump administration aback.
Rubio planned to pay a quick visit to Qatar on Tuesday, as the administration appears keen to ease tensions between its two close allies, before flying on to London to join President Donald Trump on his state visit to Britain. “We understand they’re not happy about what happened,” Rubio told Fox News. But “we still have Hamas, we still have hostages, and we still have a war.
And all those things still have to be dealt with, and we are hopeful that Qatar and all of our Gulf partners will continue to add something constructive.” There were no signs of US frustration with Israel’s latest actions, although Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s unilateral strike on Hamas in Qatar.
Both Netanyahu and Rubio said the only way to end the conflict in Gaza is through the elimination of Hamas and the release of the remaining 48 hostages — around 20 of them believed to be alive — setting aside calls for an interim ceasefire in favour of an immediate end to the conflict. Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.