TEL AVIV: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Monday that recent moves by Britain, France and other American allies to recognise a Palestinian state risk strengthening Hamas.
“They’re largely symbolic — they have really no impact whatsoever on bringing us any closer to a Palestinian state. The only impact they actually have is it makes Hamas feel more emboldened,” Rubio said at a joint news conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s actually served as an impediment to peace,” Rubio said.
Rubio noted that in the past, Hamas had “walked away from agreements they had tacitly accepted,” but then reversed course when they perceived growing international support.
He added that he would continue to raise these concerns directly with U.S. allies, responding to a question about his message to Britain—a country he is set to visit alongside President Donald Trump starting Tuesday.
“It’s actually hurting the cause they think they’re furthering,” Rubio said.
Rubio visited Israel a week ahead of a UN summit in New York focused on the recognition of a Palestinian state—an effort led by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has expressed frustration with Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign in Gaza that has killed nearly 65,000 people.
During his visit on Monday, Rubio told Israeli officials that the United States supports Qatar’s “constructive role” in mediating the Gaza conflict.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike on a residential compound in Doha targeted Hamas members, as the group was reviewing a US proposal to end the war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump and Rubio have both said they opposed the attack last week on Qatar, which is home to the largest US air base in the Middle East.
“We’re going to continue to encourage Qatar to play a constructive role in that regard,” Rubio told a joint news conference with Netanyahu.
