US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries “largely irrelevant” during a Tuesday interview on CBS .
“There is no Palestinian state, no matter how many papers they put out, and the only time there’ll ever be one is if there is a negotiation with Israel, which right now is impossible because they have a war going on with Hamas, a terrorist group that butchered over 2,000 people on October 7,” he said.
He also pointed out that recognizing a Palestinian state was counterproductive to the negotiations for a hostage deal.
“It actually derailed talks that were going on, making it even harder for Hamas to enter into concessions that might have brought this to an end. And look, we think there’s a window of opportunity right now to pursue it,” the US chief diplomat said.
Rubio added that any future Palestinian state would have to live alongside the Jewish people in Israel, which would only happen through a series of negotiations.
“That has to be part of a much broader, more complex negotiation. From the Israeli standpoint, not only do you have to – if there’s going to be a state, you need to know, well, who’s the government of that state,” he stated.
Rubio about UN and Hamas
During another interview with Fox News, Rubio addressed Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly and the harsh criticism the American President had directed towards the UN.
“The UN has tremendous potential; as an organization, it has the capacity to do great things around the world, but it's not doing so…If you look at what is happening in Gaza with Hamas and Israel taking them on, the UN has no role in stopping them,” Rubio said.
When asked about the reports about a Hamas letter sent to US President Donald Trump, where they offered to release half the hostages for a 60-day ceasefire, Rubio said that “it is not relevant.”
“The president has been clear; he is not interested in 60 days for 10 people; he wants all 48 hostages out, including the 20 who are alive and the 28 who are deceased,” he concluded.