WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel next week to show support for the state before meeting with the UN about controversial and anticipated debate over the creation of a Palestinian state, the State Department said Friday.
Despite tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rubio will arrive in Israel for a two-day visit on Sunday, particularly over Israeli attacks on Qatar’s Hamas leader. He is expected to travel to the controversial archaeological sites of East Jerusalem, where Palestinians claim to be the ultimate capital of the nation.
Rubio will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister on Friday. Qatar’s Prime Minister, along with many others in the Arab world, has condemned Israel’s strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital Doha.
The Israeli attacks have broken Trump’s hopes to secure a broader Middle Eastern peace agreement as rulers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar unite in rage against Israel.
Trump himself has kept his distance from the strike, saying he will not “advance Israel and the American goals” and has promised Qatar not to repeat it.
But more and more Flouted international norms In Hamas’ war unleashed on October 7, 2023, the attack was a source of concern in the Gulf, and Rubio is forced to deal with it on his trip.
The State Department said Rubio “conveys broader issues regarding American priorities in the Israeli-Hama conflict and security in the Middle East and “reaffirms the US commitment to Israeli security, focusing on the Trump administration’s commitment to combat anti-Israel actions, including the unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state.”
His trip also came as an effort to mediate hostage releases and ceasefire contracts to end the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza, with Israel moving forward with plans to occupy Gaza city.
At Rubio’s conference, the department said Rubio and Israeli leaders would discuss Israel’s “operational goals and objectives” in Gaza and share an attempt to persuade European countries not to recognize the Palestinian state.
In addition to the official meeting in Israel, Rubio is expected to visit the city of David, a popular archaeological site and tourist destination built by Israel in the Palestinian district of Silwan in East Jerusalem, where Israel contested.
The site contains some of the oldest ruins of the city, which were 3,000 years old. Some claim that it is linked to King David.
However, critics accusing the site operators of promoting nationalist agendas at the expense of local Palestinian residents.
Its parent organization, Elad, helps settle Jewish families in their Arab neighborhoods as a way to stake Jewish claims across the city.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, the home of the city’s most important religious location, during the 1967 Middle East War, and annexed the area.
Israel claims the entire city is an eternal, undivided capital, with Palestinians claiming East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Competing claims lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and often simmer in violence.
In 2017, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but said the move had no connection to the city’s final boundaries.
Nevertheless, the move pleased the Israelites and infuriated the Palestinians. Only a few small countries follow suit, and the majority of the international community say that city status should be resolved through negotiations.
