US President Donald Trump on Monday emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not carry out another strike on Qatar, following last week’s attack on Hamas that angered Washington’s Gulf ally.
“He won’t be hitting in Qatar,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, after Netanyahu did not explicitly rule out further strikes during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned on Tuesday that Hamas has only a limited window to accept a ceasefire deal as Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza City.
“The Israelis have already launched operations there. We believe there is a very short window for a deal to be reached. We no longer have months—probably just days or a few weeks,” Rubio told reporters while en route to Qatar to mediate.
“Our top priority is a negotiated settlement where Hamas agrees to demilitarize and cease posing a threat,” Rubio added.
“Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that’s not possible, but we hope it can happen,” Rubio said.
Rubio met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, giving his backing to the Israeli Prime Minister’s new offensive in Gaza City and its stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
Witnesses later told AFP that the city was under heavy bombardment.
