JERUSALEM, Sep 15 : US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in the aftermath of Israel’s strike in Qatar, and will discuss the Doha attack, its move for West Bank annexation, and the future of Gaza.
The top US official’s visit came less than a week after Jerusalem’s controversial airstrike in Qatar, which was overwhelmingly condemned by the international community, and heavily criticised by US President Donald Trump.
Rubio, regarding Washington’s position on the Doha airstrike, had said, “Obviously we’re not happy about it. The president was not happy about it. Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next,” reports Jerusalem Post.
Rubio said the crux of his trip to Jerusalem would be to talk “about what impact it’s going to have on efforts to get all the hostages back, get rid of Hamas, end this war. That’s the president’s priority.” What needs to happen now is to figure out what comes next, he said.
The timing of Rubio’s visit underscores Washington’s balancing act. For the US, Qatar is a particularly sensitive flashpoint: it hosts a major American airbase and has been central to mediation between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, Arab leaders gathered in solidarity with Doha, with Qatari officials demanding the world “end double standards” and hold Israel accountable.
In Jerusalem’s Old City, Netanyahu and Rubio visited the Western Wall with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, ignoring questions on the strike. Netanyahu declared that US-Israel ties were as “durable as the stones” of the site. Rubio placed a handwritten note into the wall, following tradition.
Beyond Qatar, the two leaders were expected to discuss Israeli military plans to seize Gaza City and the future of the E-1 settlement project in the West Bank, which has gained momentum amid announcements by countries including France, the UK, Belgium and Canada to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Rubio is also slated to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem on Monday, and is also expected to take part in the inauguration of a new tunnel in Jerusalem’s Old City for visitors approaching the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, which is also sacred for Muslims as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Qatar attack has cast fresh uncertainty over the Abraham Accords, which normalised Israel’s ties with several Gulf states in 2020, such as the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, while also establishing back-channel diplomacy with Saudi Arabia, which conditioned its normalisation of ties on Palestinian statehood.
Since the war began in October 2023, Israel’s military has conducted operations in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Iraq. The incursions throughout the region have sparked the ire of even those Muslim countries which have normal ties with Jerusalem, such as Egypt, Turkey, and the UAE.
Proposals by senior ministers to reoccupy Gaza and re-establish Jewish settlements there have further strained relations, as Abu Dhabi has called any move to annex the West Bank its ‘red line’, cautioning that this could erode the Accords.
(UNI )
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