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United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Hamas has only “days, maybe a few weeks” to accept a ceasefire deal in Gaza, as Israel launched a massive new bombing campaign on Gaza City and vowed to eradicate the group.
“Well, as you saw, the Israelis have begun to take operations there, so we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen,” Rubio told reporters in Israel before flying to Qatar. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks. So it’s a key moment, an important moment.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said early Tuesday that Gaza City, the territory’s main urban hub, was “on fire.” Witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP) of relentless bombardment on neighborhoods already reduced to rubble after nearly two years of war.
“We can hear their screams,” said Ahmed Ghazal, a 25-year-old resident.
Rubio met Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, offering robust U.S. support for Israel’s offensive. “Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas, that’s not possible,” Rubio said, while adding that Washington still prefers a diplomatic solution in which Hamas demilitarizes.
He also met the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. “If there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would have ended a year and a half ago,” Rubio said at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
A group representing hostages’ relatives said they were “terrified” after Netanyahu ordered intensified strikes. “He is doing everything to ensure there is no deal and not to bring them back,” the group said in a statement.
Rubio is scheduled to meet Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, days after an Israeli strike on Hamas negotiators in the capital that drew regional condemnation. “We want them to know that if there’s any country in the world that could help end this through a negotiation, it’s Qatar,” Rubio said.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that Israel “won’t be hitting in Qatar” again, though neither Rubio nor Netanyahu offered the same assurance.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense agency, said heavy bombing was ongoing in Gaza City Tuesday and that “the number of deaths and injuries continues to rise.” He said Israeli strikes also hit Khan Yunis, killing 49 people on Monday.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 64,900 people since October 2023, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials, figures the U.N. considers reliable.
Of the 251 hostages seized in 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.
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Rubio’s trip and the Israeli escalation come ahead of a French-led U.N. summit where several Western countries are expected to recognize a Palestinian state. Rubio dismissed such recognition as “largely symbolic,” while Netanyahu warned of unspecified “unilateral steps.”
Far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have urged annexing the occupied West Bank, drawing protests from the United Arab Emirates, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020.
Netanyahu called Rubio’s visit a “clear message” that Washington stood with Israel, praising Trump as “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had.”
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