Following President Trump’s divisive remarks about clearing out Gaza, Marco Rubio will visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Following President Donald Trump’s comments about forcing Palestinians out of Gaza, a senior State Department official announced Thursday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first trip to the Middle East this month.
According to the official, Rubio will go to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia from February 13–18 after attending the Munich Security Conference.
Following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump shocked a large portion of the globe on Tuesday by proposing to send US forces to occupy Israel-besieged Gaza and expel its two million residents.
Later, Rubio claimed that Trump was referring to a short-term move while the US funds the region’s restoration after Israel’s ceaseless attacks.
Rubio implied that Trump was also looking for nations that “have both the economic and technological capacity” to support Gaza in remarks made earlier Thursday while on a visit to the Dominican Republic. This was probably a reference to affluent Gulf Arab nations.
According to the senior State Department official, Rubio would carry on the discussion that Trump had initiated over Gaza’s future.
The official stated, “You have to talk about it seriously.”
ceasefire in Gaza
The first Hispanic secretary of state, Rubio, returned from his first trip to Latin America late Thursday.
Despite Trump’s appointment of Steve Witkoff, a real estate friend, as a special envoy to the Middle East, Rubio’s second trip will highlight his role as the senior US ambassador in the region.
Last month, Witkoff worked with former President Joe Biden’s departing envoy to promote a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was negotiated by Qatar.
After the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Rubio’s predecessor under Biden, Antony Blinken, made 12 trips to the area, partly to promote a ceasefire.
Additionally, Blinken contributed to the development of a possibly historic agreement that would have seen Saudi Arabia recognize Israel, although he was unsuccessful in completing it.
Saudi Arabia has emphasized that before taking such a historic move, it must see progress toward an independent Palestinian state.
As the first Arab states to normalize relations with Israel in decades, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco signed a pact under Trump’s leadership during his first term.
