Israel launched a ground offensive across Gaza City on Tuesday even as U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio visited Jerusalem, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said “Gaza is burning”, while overnight strikes in Gaza City killed at least 12 Palestinians, including two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.
Rubio, speaking to journalists while leaving Israel for Qatar, acknowledged the start of operations in Gaza City and stressed the need for an immediate end to the conflict that eliminates Hamas.
“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 said. “We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks to go.”
The fresh offensive began after Mr Netanyahu refused to rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders on foreign soil in the wake of the attack on Qatar that killed six people.
The Israeli leader on Monday argued that every country had the right to “defend itself beyond its borders” while speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem with Rubio.
“The principle that terrorists should not have immunity wherever they are, wherever they may be, was not established by me,” Netanyahu said.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar last week, escalating its military action in the Middle East. The strike was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could further escalate tensions in a region already on edge. U.S. president Donald Trump said on Monday he was not informed by Netanyahu in advance about the attack and was not involved in Israel’s decision to strike Qatar.
On Monday, Netanyahu and Rubio stood shoulder-to-shoulder and downplayed the furore that the attack had caused and taken the Donald Trump administration by surprise.
Netanyahu said there was âimmense cynicism and hypocrisyâ in criticism of Israel over the strike in Qatar targeting Hamas even as Israel’s biggest ally, Trump, joined the global condemnation of Tel Aviv’s airstrike on Doha.
He stressed that the U.S. âacted very boldly against the terrorist havens that were given to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The terrorist haven that was given to the chief terrorist [Osama] Bin Laden in Pakistanâ.
âYou donât have such sovereignty when you are effectively giving a base to terrorists,â Netanyahu added, according to Times of Israel.
Netanyahu claimed âwe did it on our own. Periodâ when pressed on whether the U.S. had any involvement in the strike. He seemed to acknowledge that Israel did not succeed in killing Hamas leaders, but added that the strike still sent a message to the militant group.
âIt didnât fail because it had one central message and we considered it before we launched it, and that is, you can hide, you can run, but weâll get you,â Netanyahu added.
Israel bombed Doha on 9 September, targeting Hamas militant leaders who, according to Qatar, were in its capital to discuss Trumpâs latest ceasefire proposal for Gaza. The air raid, which was conducted without prior knowledge of either the U.S. or Qatar, marked a significant escalation of Israeli military action in a region already shaken by conflict since the Hamas-led 7 October attacks that ignited the Gaza war.
Qatar, a key mediator and host of talks for Gaza, is also the home of Washingtonâs largest base in the Middle East. Trump has said twice that Netanyahu “won’t be hitting Qatar”.
Netanyahu made the fiery remarks on Monday as 50 leaders from across the Arab and Islamic world gathered in Qatarâs capital for an emergency meeting in an âunprecedented show of unityâ against Israelâs shock bombing of the Gulf state last week.
The leaders who convened in the Gulf state included Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Emirati president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, whose countries have in the past boycotted Qatar over diplomatic disputes.
The U.S. secretary of state in Jerusalem said Hamas must be eliminated and all hostages released for there to be peace in Gaza.
“As much as we may wish that there be a peaceful, diplomatic way to end it, and we’ll continue to explore and be dedicated to it, we also have to be prepared for the possibility that’s not going to happen,” he said, calling Hamas “savage terrorists”. “Hamas needs to cease to exist as an armed element that can threaten the peace and security of the region.”
Netanyahu told Rubio that his presence in Israel was a clear message that âAmerica stands with Israelâ. âYou stand with us in the face of terror.â There were no signs of Washingtonâs frustration or annoyance with Israel’s latest moves during Rubioâs visit even though Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s strike on Qatar.
Before leaving for Qatar, Rubio said Doha and Washington were on the verge of finalising an enhanced defence cooperation agreement. He added that only Qatar had the ability to mediate in Gaza and that Hamas had a limited time to accept the ceasefire deal.
“Obviously they have to decide if they want to do that after last week or not, but 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 told reporters.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip.
