US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after an airstrike in Qatar.
According to AA, days after Israeli missile strike in Qatar’s capital, Doha, the US secretary of state landed in Jerusalem on Sunday, September 14, to discuss the widely criticised attack.
Ahead of the trip, Rubio wrote on X, “On my way to Jerusalem. My focus will be on securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas."
Israel earlier this week on Tuesday targeted a residential compound in Doha that was housing Hamas leaders, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio said, "What's happened has happened," he said. "We're going to meet with them. We're going to talk about what the future holds. There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want."
After meeting Israeli prime minister, he will join US President Donald Trump on his visit to the UK next week.
Meanwhile, Qatar, on the other hand, held an emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha on Sunday to talk about the Israeli strike and response to the attack on Hamas leaders in the country that PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani described as “barbaric.”
