Mr. Rubio scheduled a solidarity go to every week earlier than a French-led summit on the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state, a prospect fervently opposed by Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing authorities.
But talks will as an alternative be harder as President Donald Trump’s administration was caught off guard final week when Israel carried out an assault in Qatar in opposition to Hamas leaders who have been assembly to debate a brand new U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza.
Mr. Trump, for years a fervent defender of Mr. Netanyahu, on Sunday (September 14, 2025) once more voiced help for Qatar, which is house to the most important U.S. air base within the area and has assiduously courted the U.S. President, together with by gifting a luxurious 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,” Mr. Trump advised reporters.
Trump points uncommon rebuke to Netanyahu over Qatar strikes
Mr. Rubio, who will later handle the press with Mr. Netanyahu, stated as he left Washington on Saturday (September 13, 2025) that “obviously we’re not happy” concerning the strike however added: “Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next.”
Mr. Rubio stated he would converse to Mr. Netanyahu about Israeli navy plans to grab Gaza City, the most important city centre within the devastated territory, in addition to the federal government’s discuss of annexing elements of the occupied West Bank in hopes of precluding a Palestinian state.
Mr. Rubio stated Mr. Trump desires the Gaza conflict to be “completed with” — which might imply the discharge of hostages and guaranteeing Hamas is “now not a risk.”
The conflict was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, which resulted within the deaths of 1,219 folks, most of them civilians, in response to an AFP tally of official figures.
Editorial | Reckless escalation: On Israel’s assault on Qatar
Israel’s retaliatory marketing campaign in Gaza has killed no less than 64,871 folks, additionally principally civilians, in response to figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers dependable.
‘Eternal capital’
The United States has not joined European powers in urgent Israel to finish the offensive, who concern it should worsen the already extreme humanitarian disaster within the Gaza Strip, the place most of its 2.4 million folks have been displaced no less than as soon as for the reason that outbreak of the conflict.
Despite the objections over the Qatar strike, Mr. Rubio opened the go to on Sunday (September 14, 2025) with one other present of help as he joined Mr. Netanyahu on the Western Wall, the holiest website the place Jews are allowed to hope.
U.N. Security Council condemns strikes on Qatar with out naming Israel
With Mr. Rubio at his facet, Mr. Netanyahu stated 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.”
Mr. Rubio, a religious Catholic, later posted that his go to confirmed his perception that Jerusalem is the “eternal capital” of Israel.
Until Mr. Trump’s first time period, the U.S. leaders had shied away from such overt statements backing Israeli sovereignty over contested Jerusalem, which can be holy to Muslims and Christians. Mr. Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, in a pointy break with a lot of the world.
Hamas referred to as Mr. Rubio’s go to a “blatant assault on the sanctity” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Muslim sacred website above, and a “flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo in occupied Jerusalem.”
Controversial tunnel
Mr. Rubio individually is anticipated on Monday (September 15, 2025) to attend the inauguration of a tunnel for non secular vacationers that goes beneath the Palestinian neighourhood of Silwan to the holy websites.
The challenge has stirred fears amongst Palestinian residents that it might additional dilute their presence, permitting Israelis to bypass Palestinians and presumably placing in danger the bodily foundations of their houses.
Fakhri Abu Diab (63) a neighborhood spokesman in Silwan, stated Mr. Rubio ought to as an alternative come see houses, comparable to his personal, which have been demolished by Israel in what Palestinians cost is a focused marketing campaign to erase them.
“Instead of siding with international law, the United States is going the way of extremists and the far right and ignoring our history,” he stated. Mr. Rubio performed down the political implications, calling it “one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.”
