Rubio expresses optimism about international forces entering Gaza, US warns Israel not to annex the West Bank
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting Israel to strengthen the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza. He said that many countries are preparing to join the international stabilization force and reiterated President Trump's stance that Israel should not annex the West Bank.
AFP, October 24th, before the arrival of the US Secretary of State, US envoy Steve Wietstock, son-in-law of President Donald Trump Jared Kushner, and Vice President JD Vance visited Israel. Rubio followed up on these visits.
Rubio, who arrived in Israel on Thursday, expressed "optimism" about Israel and Hamas maintaining the ceasefire. The ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 10, based on Donald Trump's plan to end the two-year war completely.
Rubio said, "Many countries" have "proposed" joining the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which, according to Trump's plan, will be deployed in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli army withdraws.
However, he warned that these countries or personnel must be acceptable to Israel, and pointed out that Israel has veto power over the composition of the international force, especially opposing Turkey's participation.
As the first Muslim country to recognize Israel, Turkey, under President Erdogan, has hosted Hamas leaders and made strong criticisms against Israel.
Additionally, Mr. Rubio said that the US may seek UN authorization for the International Security Force (ISF), as some countries have already proposed this.
All US officials who visited Israel recently expressed confidence in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, despite the bombing of Gaza on Sunday seeming to undermine the ceasefire, with the trigger being a shooting incident that killed two Israeli soldiers.
Normalization of relations
On Friday, Mr. Rubio visited the US monitoring ceasefire monitoring agency - the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CCMC) located in Kiriath-Gat, southern Israel. He discussed the possibility of expanding the Abraham Accords. In 2020, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco achieved normalization of relations with Israel through the agreement.
Rubio said that now "many countries have shown interest in joining these agreements," some countries have greater interest, but he did not name these countries.
Saudi Arabia, one of the most important holy sites of Islam, has been negotiating with the US for years on normalizing relations with Israel. However, Riyadh now makes the establishment of a Palestinian state a condition for normalizing relations with Israel.
In addition, the issue of annexing the West Bank has also involved an American diplomatic controversy. On Wednesday, the Israeli parliament voted to pass two bills aimed at expanding its sovereignty over the territory of the West Bank occupied in 1967.
On Thursday evening, Donald Trump in Washington stated that "if this happens, Israel will lose all US support." In an interview with Time magazine on October 15, Trump said, "This will not happen. Because I promised the Arab countries in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations." His Secretary of State Rubio reiterated this position on Friday.
Netanyahu rejected any claims of tension between Israel and the US on Thursday, calling Rubio "an extraordinary friend of Israel."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846923256936448/
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