Rubio in Israel Says Hamas Must Be Eradicated

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working closely with President Donald Trump, according to a joint statement released on Sunday with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Contrary to what is being reported, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination,” the prime minister told Rubio, according to the statement.

“We have a shared strategy, which cannot always be detailed to the public—including when the gates of hell will open. And they will open if all our hostages are not returned, every last one of them,” it continued.

According to a statement from his office on Saturday, Netanyahu will convene the Security Cabinet “soon” to discuss Jerusalem’s response to Trump’s call for the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza to release all of the hostages it is holding.

Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to securing the release of all hostages, dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and eliminating the threat from Gaza.

For his part, the top American diplomat stressed at a press conference alongside the Israeli premier that the Jewish state has had no stronger ally in the White House than Trump.

Rubio emphasized that the hostages must be released and reiterated that Hamas cannot continue as a military or governing force in Gaza, saying that the terrorist group “must be eliminated.”