'Hamas can never govern Gaza or threaten Israel again', US State Sec Rubio tells Egypt FM

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of close cooperation to ensure Hamas cannot govern the Gaza Strip again.

According to State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty today to discuss the latest developments in Gaza".

“The Secretary thanked the Foreign Minister for Egypt’s mediation efforts in securing the release of hostages and the ceasefire, as well as continuing humanitarian assistance deliveries throughout Gaza. He also reinforced the importance of holding Hamas accountable. The Secretary reiterated the importance of close cooperation to advance post-conflict planning to ensure Hamas can never govern Gaza or threaten Israel again.” 

In a separate call with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Secretary Rubio “reinforced the importance of holding Hamas accountable, and ensuring they release all remaining hostages.” 

The statements made no mention of President Trump’s controversial suggestion that Jordan and Egypt should take in Gaza evacuees, either temporarily or permanently, due to the significant level of destruction in the Gaza Strip.

UN estimates put the number of destroyed residential buildings at around 90 percent. 

President Trump called Gaza “a demolition site” during a meeting with reporters aboard Air Force One over the past weekend. 

Despite pushback over his statement, President Trump persisted with the idea a couple days later, insisting that relocating Gaza residents temporarily or permanently is reasonable, and that Jordan and Egypt could be persuaded to agree. 

On Monday, Trump said he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”

“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump remarked. 

A call with Jordan’s King Abdullah the previous day also made no mention of the president’s suggestion, according to the official readout of the call. 

Both Jordan and Egypt have rejected Trump’s call to receive Gaza evacuees, with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry saying it "rejected any infringement on those inalienable rights, whether by settlement or annexation of land, or by the depopulation of that land of its people through displacement, encouraged transfer or the uprooting of Palestinians from their land, whether temporarily or long-term.” 

Qatari news site al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that the U.S. is prepared to make several concessions in order to convince Netanyahu to continue with the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. 

According to that report, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. is willing to delay reconstruction efforts in the northern Gaza Strip as part of an effort to prevent Hamas from re-establishing itself there, and to increase the number of Palestinians willing to voluntarily relocate outside of the Strip. 

The move is meant to counter coalition and other right wing political pressure on Netanyahu to not proceed with the second phase of the agreement, which would see the remaining hostages released as part of negotiations for a permanent ceasefire. 

A significant portion of Netanyahu’s coalition partners, and even members of his own Likud party, are pressuring Netanyahu to resume the fighting against Hamas in Gaza, cancelling the ceasefire agreement before all the hostages are released. 

The Israeli politicians putting pressure on Netanyahu do not believe that Hamas will agree to give up control of Gaza or willingly disarm. They have called on Netanyahu to proceed until all the war goals are achieved.