The conflict led more countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, the top US diplomat said
The war in Gaza has strained Israel’s public image, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.
He made his comments after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced they would suspend offensive operations in Gaza City following an agreement between West Jerusalem and Hamas on a prisoner swap proposed last week by US President Donald Trump.
“Whether we agree with it or not, we have seen countries like the UK, Australia, Canada, and others come out and sort of signal support for – or announce support for – a Palestinian state. We have seen, even in our own domestic politics, some of the attacks on Israel,” Rubio told Margaret Brennan on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.
“And I think that’s the point the president is making here, is that whether you believe it was justified or not, right or not, you cannot ignore the impact this has had on Israel’s global standing,” he added.
Israel has so far defied Trump’s call for an immediate end to its airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave, where the death toll since October 2023 has topped 67,000.
Rubio, however, expressed confidence that Israel would halt the strikes once the prisoner swap is finalized. “Once you agree on the logistics of how this is going to happen – I think the Israelis and everyone acknowledge you can’t release hostages in the middle of strikes, so the strikes will have to stop,” he said.
Although Hamas has agreed to hand over all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, it has so far refused to disarm. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has declined to commit to a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
