Rubio: There is no Plan B for Gaza, just Trump’s; ‘Hamas cannot be involved in governing the future of Gaza’; Israel has met its commitments to date; Hamas must disarm

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declines to say that Israel would need US “permission” to renew fighting against Hamas in Gaza if the group continues to pose a threat, while emphasizing that the US ceasefire plan has broad regional support and is “the best” and “only plan.”

Asked at a press conference at the US-Israel ceasefire coordination center if Israel could resume fighting Hamas independently the group rearms or regroups, Rubio says that, “I don’t think this has to do anything with permission or anything of that nature. This has to do with, basically, we’re all committed to making this plan work. There is no Plan B. This is the best plan. It’s the only plan. It’s one that we think can succeed. It’s one that we believe is on the way to success, as impossible or unimaginable” as it may have seemed, he says.

In response to another question on Hamas disarmament, Rubio stresses that “If Hamas refuses to demilitarize, it’ll be a violation of the agreement, and that’ll have to be enforced. I’m not going to get into the mechanisms by which it is going to be enforced, but it’ll have to be enforced.”

He adds, “This is a deal, and a deal requires conditions to be met. Israel has met their commitments. They’re standing at the yellow line, and that is contingent upon the demilitarization.”

Rubio notes that Hamas disarmament and the demilitarization of Gaza under the second phase of the deal “is a long-term project,” but adds, “We want to help create the conditions here so that people in Gaza don’t have to be terrorized by Hamas and in fact, have lives, jobs, businesses, and a better future.”

Asked about reported claims by Hamas that it is part of the committee forming Gaza’s next government, Rubio appears to dismiss the notion and stresses that Hamas can have no role in the future governance of Gaza. He says that all the countries now working with the US on Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan have agreed to that.

“Everyone that signed onto this plan, all of these other countries, agreed, everyone agreed, that Hamas cannot govern, and cannot be involved in governing the future of Gaza. Everyone’s agreed to that.”