From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio says Trump is clear the hostages must be released: ‘It’s not optional’; ‘Hamas must be eradicated’
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that President Donald Trump is “a man that speaks clearly and unambiguously, who makes clear his views on issues.”
The first issue Trump has been clear on, says Rubio, is that the “hostages need to come home, they need to be released.”
“That must happen. It’s not optional,” he says.
“The president has also been very bold about his view of what the future of Gaza should be,” says Rubio, referring to Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and have the US take over the Strip.
“Not the same old tired ideas of the past,” he continues. “Something that is new, something that frankly took courage and vision in order to outline. It may have surprised and shocked many, but what cannot continue is the same cycle to repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place.”
Trump, Rubio says, “has been very clear that Hamas cannot continue as a government or military force, and frankly as long as it stands as a force that can govern, as a force that can administer, or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.”
“It must be eradicated, it must be eliminated,” Rubio declares.
