Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed Sunday to “open the gates of hell” against Hamas if the terror group fails to return all the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu, who met with Rubio in Jerusalem, said Israel and the US have a “common strategy” to deal with the Palestinian terrorists, stressing that the release of the hostages and remains of those still being held in Gaza is the priority.
“We can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one,” Netanyahu and Rubio said in a joint statement.
“We will eliminate Hamas’ military capability and its political rule in Gaza. We will bring all our hostages home, and we will ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” they added.
Rubio said the US would back Israel through the second phase of negotiations, which would see all the living hostages freed from Gaza, after the release of the initial 33 from the first phase.
The second phase would also set clear language for the future of Gaza, including who will end up governing the enclave after 18 years of Hamas rule.
While Israel has yet to tap an alternative group to govern Gaza, despite a year-long effort from the US to do so, Rubio said it is clear Hamas “cannot continue as a military or government force.
“As long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” Rubio said. “It must be eradicated.”
The terror group, which is serving as the de facto ruler of Gaza during the cease-fire, has repeatedly demanded that it stay in power as part of the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu also reiterated his support for President Trump’s controversial plan to evacuate more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so that the US may take over the enclave and rebuild it before letting them back in.
Netanyahu said the US would have Israel’s “unequivocal support,” saying it’s the only path forward for the Middle East.
“Trump has presented a bold new vision, the only plan I think can work,” Netanyahu said.
Trump’s proposal has been widely rejected by the Arab world, including by Egypt and Jordan, who he has sought to permanently take in the refugees despite criticisms that a forceful evacuation of the land would equate to an “ethnic cleansing” of the Gaza Strip.
Rubio, who is poised to face pushback over the plan as part of his first regional tour of the Middle East as secretary of state, once again defended it Sunday.
“The president’s also been very bold about his view of what the future for Gaza should be, not the same tired ideas of the past, but something that’s bold and something that, frankly, took courage and vision,” he said.
