Rubio To I24NEWS Reporter: Hamas Subsidiary UNRWA Cannot Play A Role In Gaza’s Future

Neither Hamas nor its “subsidiary” UNRWA have a role to play in Gaza’s future, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday during a tour of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel. 

With 13 hostages still held by Hamas in violation of the deal, Secretary Rubio told i24NEWS that the U.S. is doing more then anybody else for their return. “It’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t then the deal got broken. But it’s going to happen.”

Asked about the future of Gaza by i24NEWS, the top U.S. diplomat said “All the countries that signed on this plan agreed that Hamas cannot govern and cannot be involved in the future of Gaza. Everyone agrees to that and that has to be part of it. But we are not at that stage yet.” 

“Remember, we are still at the stage of trying to maintain the ceasefire. We have to assure that there are no threats against Israel coming from Gaza. This is a long term plan. Before you get to all these 20 points, it’s gonna require a lot of work through a long period of time.” 

Stressing the enormity and singularity of the challenges faced by the forces tasked with implementing the Gaza ceasefire, Rubio said “We are not even two weeks into this. The progress that has been made is historic and extraordinary. There is something very difficult here but worth doing. We are committed to make sure it happens . It will change Israeli security in the long term. It will change the nature of the region. We feel good about the progress that’ve been made.”

“You’re starting to see more presence from the State Department and related entities and that will continue to grow,” he said.