JERUSALEM – Secretary of State Marco Rubio is kicking of a Mideast tour in Israel on Sunday as Arab leaders reel from President Donald Trump’s proposal to switch the Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip to different nations and redevelop it below U.S. possession.
On Rubio’s first go to to the area as America’s high diplomat he’s prone to get a heat welcome from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has praised the plan, and pushback from Arab leaders, who have universally rejected it and are scrambling to give you a counterproposal.
The delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the meantime remains intact after a significant dispute threatened to unravel it final week. However the sides face a fast-approaching deadline in early March to negotiate the next phase, and the battle might resume if they do not attain an settlement.
The Israeli navy stated it carried out an airstrike early Sunday on individuals who approached its forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Inside Ministry stated the strike killed three of its policemen whereas they had been offering safety for the entry of assist vehicles close to Rafah, on the Egyptian border.
Netanyahu has signaled readiness to renew the battle after the present stage, even when that would depart dozens of hostages in captivity. On the identical time, he has supplied Hamas an opportunity to give up and ship its high leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected such a state of affairs.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported that Netanyahu has not permitted the entry of cell properties and heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, as required by the ceasefire agreement. Hamas had threatened to carry up the discharge of hostages final week over the problem, elevating fears the ceasefire might unravel, earlier than continuing with the discharge primarily based on what it stated had been assurances from Arab mediators.
An Israeli official, talking on situation of anonymity in keeping with laws, stated the problem can be mentioned within the coming days and that Israel was coordinating with america.
Israel’s Protection Ministry in the meantime stated Sunday it obtained a cargo of two,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from america. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of such bombs final 12 months over issues about civilian casualties in Gaza.
‘If somebody has a greater plan … that’s nice’
In a radio interview final week, Rubio indicated that Trump’s proposal was partly geared toward pressuring Arab states to give you their very own postwar plan that will be acceptable to Israel, which says Hamas can don’t have any function in Gaza.
He additionally appeared to recommend that Arab nations ship in troops to fight Hamas, which survived Israel’s devastating 15-month onslaught and remains in firm control of the territory.
“If somebody has a greater plan, and we hope they do, if the Arab nations have a greater plan, then that’s nice,” Rubio stated Thursday on the “Clay and Buck Present.”
However “Hamas has weapons,” he added. “Somebody has to confront these guys. It’s not going to be American troopers. And if the nations within the area can’t determine that piece out, then Israel goes to need to do it after which we’re again to the place we’ve been.”
It was not clear if Rubio would meet with any Palestinians.
Arabs have restricted choices as Israel has rejected previous plans
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are each nightmare situations. Both would open them as much as fierce home criticism and doubtlessly destabilize an already unstable area.
Egypt says it’ll host an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with different nations on a counterproposal that will permit for Gaza to be rebuilt with out eradicating its inhabitants, which human rights teams say would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass inflow of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its practically half-century-old peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of American affect within the area.
Arab and Muslim nations have till now conditioned any assist for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Financial institution and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized within the 1967 Mideast battle.
The Biden administration spent months rallying regional powers behind such plans, however they fizzled as Israel dominated out not solely a Palestinian state but additionally any function in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces had been pushed out when Hamas seized energy there in 2007.
Final 12 months, Egypt proposed {that a} committee of unbiased technocrats below the auspices of the Palestinian Authority take cost of governing and rebuilding Gaza. Hamas accepted the proposal however its secular rival, Fatah, which dominates the authority, refused to embrace it and the plan went nowhere.
Rubio to go to regional heavyweights
Rubio will meet with Netanyahu on Sunday earlier than touring onward to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, regional heavyweights which have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians and can be key to any regional response.
The United Arab Emirates was the driving power behind the 2020 Abraham Accords through which 4 Arab states normalized relations with Israel throughout Trump’s earlier time period. Trump hopes to broaden the accords to incorporate Saudi Arabia, doubtlessly providing nearer U.S. protection ties, however the kingdom has stated it won’t normalize relations with Israel with no pathway to a Palestinian state.
Rubio won’t be visiting Egypt or Jordan, shut U.S. allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any inflow of Palestinian refugees. Trump has at instances prompt he may slash U.S. assist to the 2 nations, which may very well be devastating for his or her economies, if they do not comply.
He’s additionally skipping Qatar, which together with Egypt had served as a key mediator with Hamas in brokering the ceasefire.
Trump took credit score for the ceasefire, which was reached within the closing days of the Biden administration after his Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, joined the talks. However extra lately, Trump has suggested that Israel resume the war if the remaining dozens of hostages kidnapped in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, which triggered the combating, will not be launched ahead of deliberate.
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Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel
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Observe AP’s battle protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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