Rubio: The Second Phase of Disarmament and Withdrawal Will Not Be Easy
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Al Jazeera, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Sunday about a ceasefire plan in Gaza. He said, “meetings are ongoing regarding an agreement between Israel and Hamas. We hope logistical issues will be resolved quickly.”
Rubio further claimed, “Hamas has agreed to what will happen after the war. We cannot yet talk about ending the Gaza conflict. There is work to be done. The second stage – disarmament and withdrawal – will not be easy.”
Without referencing Israel’s history of reneging on past agreements, Rubio asserted, “A governing structure for Gaza that excludes Hamas cannot be established within three days. We will soon understand whether Hamas is serious or not.” He added that thay are closer than ever to securing the release of all hostages held by Hamas and insisted that Israeli bombardment must stop if an agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-who has shown reluctance toward ceasefire talks and ending the Gaza conflict-issued stern warnings toward Hamas earlier. He tied implementing Trump’s plan for Gaza to the release of all Israeli prisoners held by Palestinian resistance groups.
Netanyahu stated, “As long as the first condition-the release of all prisoners, dead or alive-is not fulfilled, we will not proceed with any other part of Trump’s plan.” He emphasized that after the war ends, the Palestinian Authority would have no governance over Gaza and neither Hamas nor PA representatives would play any role in administering it.
He also threatened that if hostages are not freed within a set timeframe with support from certain countries, Israel would resume military operations.
Additionally, Netanyahu claimed Tel Aviv would participate in disarming Gaza-an assertion met with serious skepticism by observers and analysts given nearly two years have passed without progress on this front.
