Hamas’ release of all remaining hostages and their dead bodies is just the start of peace in Gaza, which remains a more complex issue than the long-failed two-state orthodoxy pushed by liberals and anti-Israel forces globally, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We can’t have a Palestinian state that’s governed by Hamas or by some terrorist organization whose stated purpose for existence is the destruction of the Jewish state,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “That would never work.
“Until Gaza is governed by people that are not interested in destroying Israel, until there are no security threats emanating against Israel from Gaza, forget about statehood, you’re not going to have peace.”
When Israel began its war on Hamas terrorists after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, it laid out three goals before the war could end:
- Release all the hostages
- Destroy Hamas
- Demilitarize and deradicalize Gaza
The latest development is a tentative 20-point plan put forward by President Donald Trump, agreed to by Israel, and now is in Hamas’ court to be put in action by first releasing the remaining 50 hostages, estimated to be around 20 alive and 30 dead.
“We have to create the conditions for that,” Rubio said of Israel’s final goal toward ending the war. “That’s going to take a while, and that’s going to be part of what these negotiations are about in the days to come.
“But right now, the priority No. 1 is to get the hostages released. If we can’t even get an agreement on getting the hostages being released, you are not going to have long-term peace here.
“So, let’s get that piece done. It’s the most important. And then we can move to Phase 2, and it will give momentum to the rest of the effort.”
Two-state solution ideologues are trying to skip past the most important start to the “process,” Rubio warned.
“No one said that was going to be easy,” he concluded. “We are dealing with something that has been going on for a very long time.”
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