Rubio says ongoing Gaza peace negotiations are ‘not yet’ end of war

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that ongoing negotiations between Hamas and Israel are not yet the end of the war and that setting up a group to govern Gaza would take “some time,” but emphasized that there was a plan to do so.

“Everyone has agreed, including Israel, that eventually, at some point here as this process plays out, Gaza will be governed by a Palestinian technocratic group that’s not Hamas, that are not terrorists, with the help and the assistance and the guidance of an international consortium like the board of peace,” Rubio said, echoing the language of the proposed peace plan.

At the same time, Rubio said, “You can’t set up a governance structure in Gaza that’s not Hamas in three days.”

“I mean, it takes some time,” he said. The peace plan stipulates that Gaza would “be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee.” The plan also provides that Hamas, which currently governs Gaza, would not have any role in governing in the future. Hamas has expressed a willingness to release all hostages, alive or dead, and plans to send a team on Sunday to Cairo, where more in-depth negotiations are slated to begin on Monday. Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to attend on behalf of the U.S. Monitoring Desk