The U.S. is “not happy” with Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas targets in Qatar, but the incident won’t affect its alliance with Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday before departing for the region.
“Obviously, we were not happy about it, the president was not happy about it,” he told reporters. “It’s not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis, but we are going to have to talk about it—primarily, what impact does this have” on the diplomatic efforts to bring about a truce in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that killing Hamas leaders would end the war in Gaza, blaming them for repeatedly sabotaging ceasefire efforts.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza. They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war,” he said on X.
“Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
