US vows ‘unwavering support’ for Israel

• Rubio criticises Western nations' move to recognise Palestinian state
• Netanyahu says Trump 'greatest friend' Israel has ever had 
• Qatar emir says Israel attack aimed to derail Gaza talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Washington was steadfast in its support for its ally Israel's pursuit of the Gaza war and called for the eradication of Hamas.

"The people of Gaza deserve a better future, but that better future cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated," Rubio told reporters at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

"You can count on our unwavering support," he said.

Netanyahu said Rubio's visit was a "clear message" the United States stood with Israel and praised President Donald Trump for his backing, calling him the "greatest friend that Israel has ever had".

Rubio criticised plans by Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state, saying they "emboldened" Hamas. "They're largely symbolic... the only impact they actually have is it makes Hamas feel more emboldened," he said.

Rubio had said he would discuss with Netanyahu Israeli plans to seize Gaza City, the territory's largest urban centre, as well as the government's talk of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank in hopes of precluding a Palestinian state.

He had also said Trump wanted the Gaza war to be "finished with" -- which would mean the release of hostages and ensuring Hamas is "no longer a threat".

But talks were made more difficult last week when the Trump administration was caught off guard by an Israeli attack in Qatar against Hamas leaders.

"We sent a message to terrorists: you can run but you cannot hide," Netanyahu said.

The "raid didn't fail."

Rubio said Washington would continue to tell Qatar to continue its "constructive role" as an intermediary in the Gaza war.

A US official later said Rubio will travel to Qatar today, where Arab and Muslim leaders gathered yesterday to pile pressure on Israel after the attack.

Qatar's emir said at the summit that Israel had sought to derail truce talks, which Doha along with Egypt and the United States have sought to broker between Israel and Hamas.

"Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating, intends to thwart the negotiations... Negotiations, for them, are merely part of the war," Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said.

In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed another 25 people yesterday, all but one in Gaza City, Gaza civil defence agency reported.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the Israelis were pushing more people into the already overcrowded Al-Mawasi, which lacks basics such as food and water and where disease is spreading.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Qatar has assiduously courted Trump, including by gifting him a luxury jet.

"Qatar has been a very great ally. Israel and everyone else, we have to be careful," Trump said on Sunday.

"When we attack people we have to be careful."

But the United States has not joined European powers in pressing Israel to end the offensive in Gaza, who fear it will aggravate the already severe humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory for its more than two million people.

Rubio opened the visit on Sunday with a highly symbolic show of support as he joined Netanyahu at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.

Rubio, a devout Catholic, later posted that his visit showed his belief that Jerusalem is the "eternal capital" of Israel.

Until Trump's first term, US leaders had shied away from such overt statements backing Israeli sovereignty over contested Jerusalem, which is also holy to Muslims and Christians.

Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, in a sharp break with most of the world.