Feb. 16 (UPI) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting in Israel on Sunday, declared the two nations’ mutual interest in releasing remaining hostages in Gaza, eradicating militant Hamas and addressing Iran’s dominance in the Middle East.
Rubio, the new top American diplomat, arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday and met with Netanyahu in his office Sunday.
“It’s important to constantly point that whether we talk about Hamas or we talk about Hezbollah, we talk about violence in the West Bank, or we talk about destabilization in Syria, or we talk about any of these issues the militias in Iraq, they all have behind them one common theme – Iran,” Rubio said during a joint appearance with Netanyahu. “That must be addressed.”
Netanyahu used stronger language about Iran.
“Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.”
The prime minister said they had a “very productive discussion, with our staff, on a number of issues.”
“None of them are more important than Iran,” Netanyahu said. “Israel and America stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering the threat of Iran. We agreed that the ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons, and we also agreed that Iran’s aggression in the region has to be rolled back. Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.”
Rubio said there “could never be a nuclear Iran.”
In November 2024, Israel destroyed an active top secret facility for nuclear weapons research.
U.S. intelligence has cautioned that major strikes on Iranian nuclear sites could increase the risk of a wider war breaking out in the Middle East.
Focus on Hamas
Rubio said Hamas “must be eradicated, it must be eliminated.”
“the president has been very clear: Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force,” Rubio said. “And frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible. They must be eliminated. It must be eradicated.”
A cease-fire is set to expire March 1.
There are two other stages that include a multi-phase agreement that still needs final approval.
The second phase would secure the release of around 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The final stage is the return of the remains of dead hostages and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Netanyahu heas instructed a negotiating team to head to Cairo, Egypt, on Monday for talks on the continuation of the first phase of the hostage deal with Hamas.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the decision was made “in coordination” with Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy who spoke with Netanyahu earlier today.
Trump has proposed that the United States take over Gaza and move all Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, which has been strongly opposed by those nations and residents on the Gaza Strip.
“The President has also been very bold about his view of what the future for Gaza should be – not the same tired ideas of the past but something that’s bold and something that frankly took courage and vision in order to outline,” Rubio said. “And it may have shocked and surprised many, but what cannot continue is the same cycle where we will repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place.”
Rubio said “hostages need to come home. They need to be released. … That must happen. It’s not optional. And that’s a goal we share in common and that is something we’ll work on very closely together.
Families of hostages have called for a fast of 500 minutes, from 11:40 a.m. to 8 p.m., or from sunrise to sunset, Monday to mark 500 days since the hostages were taken to Gaza by terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We have a common strategy and we can’t always share details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them,” Netanyahu said.
Rubio arrived in Israel after the release of three hostages for 369 prisoners. After the sixth handoff since the cease-fire on Jan. 25, Hamas has now released 19 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the cease-fire agreement. Eight of the 33 promised hostages are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Militants killed more than 1,200 people during Hamas’attack. Then Israel struck Gaza, killing more than 45,000 people, according to Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Rubio also spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“On behalf of the president, I can tell you he’s strongly and deeply committed to the goal of every single hostage returning home, every single one, and not resting, not being silent, not forgetting, until all of them are home,” Rubio said before his meeting. “We work in very close coordination with the government here, as you know, to make that a reality, and that remains a very strong priority.”
Herzog told Rubio that Israel is “grateful to President Donald Trump for his friendship and solidarity with the people of Israel and the State of Israel, and we are grateful for his direct involvement in bringing back our hostages.”
Other developments Sunday
A shipment a shipment of heavy bombs arrived after the Trump administration lifted a hold on the deliveries.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said the shipment of MK-84 munitions “represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” in a statement from his ministry.
The head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, Salama Maroof, criticized the shipment of arms.
“Instead of sending food, medicine, water, or shelter and building materials to the victims in the Gaza Strip, even with a humanitarian motive, the United States of America, the first democracy in the world and a pioneer of human rights, as it describes itself, supports the criminal occupation army with 1,800 heavy MK bombs,” Maroof said.
Israel Defense Forces confirmed they carried out a drone strike in central Gaza as a warning after suspects in a vehicle tried to drive to the Strip’s north via an unapproved route in violation of the cease-fire.
The IDF also said it prevented an attempt to smuggle an assault rifle into Israel from Egypt earlier Sunday, using a drone.
Israel said the drone targeted gunmen approaching Israeli forces nearby.
Hamas said the strike that killed three of its police officers Sunday near the southern Gaza city of Rafah constitutes “a serious violation” of the ceasefire in effect since Jan. 19.
“The treacherous firing carried out by a Zionist drone this morning east of Rafah city, targeting police elements tasked with securing the entry of aid … is considered a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas said.
Lebanese media reported an Israeli airstrike near the village of Harbata in the Baalbek District in northeastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, about 62 from the border with Israel.
Rubio’s visit in Israel
Before his meeting with Israeli leaders, Rubio attended mass at the historic Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Rubio later Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, on Sunday.
He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Gideon Sa’ar and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan.
Rubio visited The Book of Names installation, which holds 4.8 million names of victims of the Holocaust.
He then participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance and signed the Yad Vashem Guestbook.
Rubio has not scheduled any meetings with Palestinians but plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He previously was in Germany for the Munich Security Conference and the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
