Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Sunday that the Trump administration is currently the closest it has come to securing the release of all of the Israeli hostages from Hamas. Rubio also warned that peace in the Middle East will not be possible if there is still a “threat emanating from Gaza.”
During a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Rubio told ABC News host Martha Raddatz, “This is the closest we’ve come to getting all of the hostages released.” Rubio confirmed that the release of the hostages would include 20 individuals who are still alive and 28 who are deceased.
Rubio explained that the Trump administration’s peace plan presented as part of the negotiations between Israel and Hamas has two major phases.
“Phase number one, which Hamas has accepted, is the President’s framework for release – the hostages are released and Israel pulls back to what’s been called the yellow line, roughly where they were in August of last year – and that exchange happened,” Rubio said.
“The second phase of this conversation – and they can be happening simultaneously – is what happens after that, what happens after Israel pulls back to this line, what happens with this international group that’s going to come in and create a governance structure,” Rubio added.
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The secretary of state explained that while the second phase of the peace plan could be a “little tougher” to implement, it would “provide permanency to the end of the conflict” between Israel and Hamas.
“As long as – as long as there is a threat emanating from Gaza against Israel’s security, be it Hamas or some successor organization; as long as there are people, organizations, inside of Gaza who possess rockets, build tunnels, want to kidnap, murder, and rape Israeli citizens and attack Israel, there isn’t going to be peace,” Rubio said.
Rubio emphasized that the “demobilization” of Hamas will be necessary under the second phase of the president’s peace plan.
In another interview, Rubio was asked whether the Trump administration supports a Palestinian state. In response, the secretary of state said, “That’s not a yes or no question; that’s a process.” Rubio warned that a potential Palestinian state cannot be “governed by Hamas or by some terrorist organization whose stated purpose for existence is the destruction of the Jewish state.”
The secretary of state also noted that the top priority in the negotiation process remains the release of the hostages.
“If we can’t even get an agreement on the hostages being released, you ain’t going to have long-term peace here,” Rubio stated. “So, let’s get that piece done.”
