From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Rubio: Gaza humanitarian crisis shouldn’t distract from plight of hostages, need to disband Hamas
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the need to release the remaining hostages and dismantle Hamas should not be overshadowed by the broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“There’s a lot of attention being paid to the humanitarian, and we want to do everything we can to be helpful on the humanitarian problem,” Rubio says in a Fox interview. “But not enough attention [is] being paid to the fact that 20 people [who] had nothing to do with this are being held hostage in tunnels on the verge of death, and no real talk about how Hamas needs to be disarmed and disbanded.”
He says the three issues are interrelated and the Trump administration is committed to addressing each of them.
“Ultimately, Hamas cannot continue to exist. Even the Arab League says it,” Rubio adds, referring to components of last month’s New York Declaration, which was part of France’s initiative tied to Paris’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — something that Rubio came out vehemently against.
“As long as Hamas exists as an armed group in Gaza, there will not be peace, there will not be a peaceful future — because it’s going to happen again. And this can never happen again,” Rubio says.
The Times of Israel Community.