{"id":164404,"date":"2025-09-14T20:51:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T20:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/rubio-in-israel-as-u-s-shows-support-despite-qatar-attack-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T20:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T20:51:12","slug":"rubio-in-israel-as-u-s-shows-support-despite-qatar-attack-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/rubio-in-israel-as-u-s-shows-support-despite-qatar-attack-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio in Israel as U.S. shows support despite Qatar attack – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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JERUSALEM \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> may have hoped to be stitching together the final details of a peace deal, but instead his top diplomat landed in Jerusalem on Sunday to douse blazing tensions between U.S. allies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> has signaled that Washington wants answers from Israel after its unprecedented attack<\/a> on Hamas leaders inside Qatar, another key American partner in the Middle East. The Trump administration has sought to distance itself from the strike, which has outraged regional powers<\/a> and left efforts to end Israel\u2019s devastating assault on the Gaza Strip <\/strong>in tatters.
But while Rubio said Saturday that the U.S. was unhappy about the attack<\/a> on Doha, he made clear that it would not fundamentally alter the close relationship between the two countries.
\u201cObviously we\u2019re not happy about it,\u201d Rubio told reporters. \u201cThe president was not happy about it. Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next.\u201d
He said he would talk about \u201cwhat the future holds\u201d during his two-day visit to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> and others in Jerusalem.
Speaking on a joint visit to the Western Wall, Netanyahu said that ties between the two countries had “never been stronger.”
Rubio’s visit was \u201ca testament to the durability, the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It\u2019s as strong and as durable as the stones of the Western Wall we just touched,\u201d Netanyahu said.
Rubio said the U.S.-Israel relationship remains \u201cvery strong,\u201d but his comments ahead of the trip underline Washington’s awkward scramble to balance relations with key allies in the wake of the attack.
Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in New York on Friday. The Qatari premier, who accused Israel of having \u201ckilled any hope\u201d of releasing hostages still held in Gaza, also met with Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
\u201cTrump wants Hamas defeated,\u201d Rubio added Saturday. \u201cHe wants the war to end, he wants all 48 hostages home, including those that are deceased, and he wants it all at once. And we\u2019ll have to discuss about how the events last week had an impact on the ability to achieve that in short order.\u201d
Possible Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank are also expected to be on the agenda during Rubio\u2019s trip.
His visit comes just a week before several countries, including France, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state. Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister, has called for the annexation of 82% of the West Bank to block any vision of a future Palestinian state from becoming a reality.
Trump has a \u201cstark choice,\u201d said Dan Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank who was U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Biden administration. He can draw a \u201cclear line against\u201d West Bank annexation and \u201csteer an end to the war in Gaza.\u201d
Or, Shapiro said on X, he can \u201cwatch his first term achievement of the Abraham Accords wither <\/strong>on the vine,\u201d referring to landmark deals mediated by the U.S. in Trump\u2019s first term that saw the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognize the state of Israel.
Qatar is hosting a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders starting Sunday in the wake of the strikes, which drew condemnation from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others.
Rubio was also set to meet with families of hostages while in Israel, according to the State Department, and \u201cunderscore that their relatives\u2019 return remains a top priority.\u201d He and Israeli leaders are also expected to discuss \u201cIsraeli operational goals and objectives\u201d for the ongoing ground offensive in Gaza.
Israeli forces have intensified aerial attacks on famine-stricken Gaza City and nearby areas, ordering the evacuation of two high-rise buildings Sunday morning as they continued a wave of strikes.
\u201cGaza\u2019s skyline is changing,\u201d Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X as he posted footage of an airstrike leveling one high-rise.
The offensive has prompted mass displacement and worsening humanitarian conditions. Israeli authorities said Saturday that roughly 250,000 Palestinians have fled the area after evacuation orders.
Forty-one people had been killed by the Israeli military since dawn Sunday, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told NBC News.
Since United Nations-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on Aug. 22, Gaza\u2019s health ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory.
Israel launched its military campaign after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
Since then, Palestinian health officials say, Israeli forces have killed more than 64,000 people in Gaza, including thousands of children, while driving most of the population from their homes and destroying or damaging most of its buildings and infrastructure.
Netanyahu says Gaza City is Hamas\u2019 last major stronghold, but the plan to occupy it has drawn international criticism. The U.N. has warned that pressing the offensive in an area already facing famine risks pushing civilians into an \u201ceven deeper catastrophe.\u201d
Gaza is being \u201ccompletely obliterated,\u201d Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said Sunday, calling the enclave a \u201cwasteland.\u201d
\u201cWith the large scale Israeli military operation happening now, political will and decision-making is needed more than ever.\u201d
Abigail Williams reported from Jerusalem, and Freddie Clayton from London.<\/em>
Abigail Williams is a producer and reporter for NBC News covering the State Department.
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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