From Rubio: Israel can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — Appearing to justify a potential IDF resumption of fighting in Gaza, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Israel cannot allow Hamas to use the ongoing ceasefire to reconstitute.
“Part of the challenge here is that Hamas continues to use networks to smuggle in weaponry and aid for themselves to reconstitute themselves,” Rubio says during an interview with NewsNation.
“Israel can’t allow that to happen. You can’t allow Hamas to use the ceasefire to rebuild itself and recover strength,” he continues. “It’s a ceasefire, but it’s not a stupid ceasefire.”
Hamas in recent days threatened not to release the next three hostages set to be freed Saturday, claiming Israel has violated the ceasefire by restricting the flow of aid, an assertion rejected by Jerusalem.
Asked about the Hamas claim, Rubio responds, “You can’t believe anything Hamas says.”
In a separate interview with Fox News, Rubio says Hamas is “breaking the deal,” without elaborating.
He says US President Donald Trump lost patience after seeing the emaciated condition of the hostages released by Hamas last weekend. “He’s tired of waiting for one, two, three people at a time. It’s time for all of them to come home,” Rubio maintains.
“If these guys don’t go through with their deal on Saturday, then I think we’re back to where we were a few months ago, where Hamas is going to be eliminated and the Israelis are going to go in and take care of that problem,” he says. It’s unclear how long that would take, though, given that Hamas has managed to repeatedly fill vacuums created by IDF operations.
Rubio says Washington is open to hearing alternative plans from Arab allies who oppose Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza.
“If people don’t like the Trump plan for Gaza — right now it’s the only plan. It’s now incumbent upon the Arab countries… if they think they’ve got a better plan, we need to hear it,” the secretary says, reiterating a point made by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz last week.
