Star Metro - Rubio backs Israel in goal to eradicate Hamas

Rubio showed no daylight between himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to Jerusalem, despite President Donald Trump gently chiding Israel a week earlier for carrying out air strikes on Hamas leaders in US partner Qatar.

"The people of Gaza deserve a better future, but that better future cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated," Rubio told reporters at a joint press conference with Netanyahu.

"You can count on our unwavering support," he said.

Rubio also took a dim view of the Qatari-brokered negotiations for a ceasefire, despite Trump last month predicting an end to the war within weeks.

He called Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the massive military response, "barbaric animals."

"As much as we may wish that there be a sort of a peaceful, diplomatic way to end it, and we'll continue to explore and be dedicated to it, we also have to be prepared for the possibility that that's not going to happen," Rubio said.

Rubio will travel Tuesday to Qatar, which is home to the largest US air base in the region and has assiduously courted Trump including with a gift of a luxury plane.

Qatar called a summit of Arab nations Monday where the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said Israel saw negotiations as "merely part of the war".

"Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating intends to thwart the negotiations," he said.

- 'Greatest friend' of Israel -

Israel has launched a major new military campaign aimed at seizing Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, where the United Nations determined last month a million people were facing famine -- a finding rejected by Israel.

Israeli strikes killed another 42 people Monday, many of them in Gaza City, the civil defence agency reported.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Netanyahu said Rubio's visit was a "clear message" the United States stood with Israel and called Trump "the greatest friend that Israel has ever had".

Rubio's visit comes a week before France will lead a UN summit in which a number of US allies, angered by what they see as Israeli intransigence, plan to recognise a Palestinian state.

Rubio called statehood recognition, which is fervently opposed by Netanyahu's right-wing government, "largely symbolic" and alleged that it "emboldened" Hamas to take a hard line.

"It's actually hurting the cause they think they're furthering," Rubio said.

Netanyahu warned that Israel may take unspecified unilateral action in response to Palestinian state recognition.

Far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet have called for annexation of the West Bank to preclude a state, triggering protests by the United Arab Emirates, which took the landmark step of recognising Israel five years ago Monday.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 64,900 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

- Controversial tunnel -

Rubio opened the visit on Sunday with a highly symbolic show of support as he joined Netanyahu at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.

Rubio, a devout Catholic, later posted that his visit showed his belief that Jerusalem is the "eternal capital" of Israel.

Until Trump's first term, US leaders had shied away from such overt statements backing Israeli sovereignty over contested Jerusalem, which is also holy to Muslims and Christians.

Rubio late Monday was to attend the inauguration of a tunnel for religious tourists that goes underneath the Palestinian neighourhood of Silwan to the holy sites.

Fakhri Abu Diab, 63, a community spokesman in Silwan, said Rubio should instead come to see homes, such as his own, that have been demolished by Israel in what Palestinians charge is a targeted 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 said.

Rubio played down the political implications, calling it "one of the most important archaeological sites in the world".

P.Lefebvre--SMC