US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed Israel’s war in Gaza, the recent Israeli strike on Qatar, and other regional issues as he took questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday before flying to Israel.
One of the key topics on his agenda in Israel this week is the next phase in Gaza.
Rubio repeatedly emphasized the need to bring hostages home and discussed plans to rebuild Gaza. He said it is the US president’s policy that 48 hostages will be “released all at once, Hamas no longer a threat so we can move on to the next phase, which is how do you rebuild Gaza, how do you provide security, how do you make sure Hamas or anything like it never comes back again. That’s the President’s priority.”
He added, in response to further questions: “There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once; and there is still the hard work ahead of, once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people a quality of life that they all want. And who’s going to do that? And who’s going to pay for it? And who’s going to be in charge of it?”
On US policy toward Hamas, Rubio noted: “We still have to deal with Hamas, which nobody in the region wants to see stay in place. And we still have to deal with, when that is settled and done, how do you rebuild Gaza so that this – in a way that this never happens again.”
The White House doctrine is clear: Hamas must release the 48 hostages, followed by a focus on rebuilding Gaza, improving quality of life, and addressing questions of funding and responsibility.
Hostage release, rebuilding Gaza are complicated issues
These are complex issues. With the war ongoing and no post-conflict strategy in place, rebuilding is even more complicated.
The conflict in Gaza has lasted more than 700 days. Between March and August, the IDF re-took areas it had previously captured in late 2023 and 2024. Northern Gaza, for example, was expected to have seen Hamas battalions defeated by December 2023 and January 2024, but the IDF reports that Hamas remains present.
The IDF has increasingly demolished high-rise buildings to remove Hamas threats, a shift from its earlier, more precise operations in 2024, such as in Hamad City in southern Gaza, where civilian buildings were initially spared.
On September 14, the IDF said: “A short while ago, the IDF struck a high-rise building that was used by the Hamas terrorist organization in the area of Gaza City. Hamas terrorists planted intelligence gathering means and positioned observation posts to monitor the location of IDF troops in the area, and to advance terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and IDF troops.”
On September 13, the IDF added: “Guided by Southern Command, the IDF struck a high-rise building used by Hamas in Gaza City. Within the building, Hamas established military infrastructure used to advance and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops in the area.” It added that steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including population warnings, precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.
Numerous large buildings have now been levelled, often one or two high-rises per day. This follows IDF approval of plans for Gideon’s Chariots II to take Gaza City in August.
The IDF claimed in early September to control around 40 percent of the city. Israel’s Defense Minister said that if Hamas does not agree to a deal, Gaza City could become like Beit Hanun or parts of Rafah, referring to total destruction in those areas.
This raises questions about the high-rise demolitions: are they purely to remove Hamas infrastructure, or part of a policy that could mirror the destruction in Beit Hanun?
Both questions contrast with the US plan to rebuild Gaza. All the high-rises will likely need reconstruction. Some 2 million Gazans live in the area, most displaced by 23 months of fighting. Rubio’s question of who will pay for rebuilding is critical.
The longer the war continues, the more neighborhoods are destroyed. Without a clear strategy to remove Hamas and move to post-conflict reconstruction, the path to rebuilding Gaza remains uncertain.