Rubio Meets Netanyahu, Says “Hostages Need to Come Home” and Hamas “Must be Eliminated”

Rubio Meets Netanyahu, Says “Hostages Need to Come Home” and Hamas “Must be Eliminated”

Israeli hostages, having endured captivity in Gaza for fifteen long months, “need to come home” and terrorist group Hamas “must be eliminated,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

President Donald Trump’s administration is committed to preventing Iran — the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — from acquiring a nuclear weapon. There “can never be a nuclear Iran,” Secretary Rubio assured during his first trip to Israel after taking office nearly two weeks ago.

Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “President Trump and I are fully coordinated with a shared strategy. Not everything can be revealed—including when the gates of hell will open.” pic.twitter.com/FaLgAf8kcf

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) February 16, 2025

Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged to bring back hostages and destroy Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas. “Israel is determined to achieve all the war objectives we set after the horrific attack on October 7th, the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” the Israeli prime minister said. “We will eliminate Hamas’s military capability and its political rule in Gaza, we will bring all our hostages home and we will ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.”

“Gates of hell’ were to open, if Hamas fails to release the remaining 73 hostages, among them women and children, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned. “We have a common strategy and we can’t always share details of this strategy with the public,” he said, “including when the gates of hell will be open, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them.”

“Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force,” Secretary Rubio agreed. “They must be eliminated.”

When asked if the ceasefire and hostage release deal stands, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, "We are not in favor of waiting weeks and weeks" to see all hostages released. "That may be the process that's in place because of the deal, but we would like to see them all out… pic.twitter.com/plRwmxPg1j

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 16, 2025

Netanyahu: With Trump’s backing, Israel “can finish the job” against Iran

Mentioning Iran’s advancing “nuclear weapons” program and its terrorist “aggression in the region,” Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his confidence that Israel can deliver a decisive blow to the Mullah regime with backing from the Trump administration.

“Under the strong leadership of President Trump,” Israel “can and will finish the job” against Iran,” he assured.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the families of American hostages still being held by Palestinian terrorists in Jerusalem.

Five Americans are still being held hostage. They must be freed immediately. pic.twitter.com/X7p0acDZIJ

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) February 16, 2025

The Associated Press covered Secretary Rubio’s Israel visit:

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday fully endorsed Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the shaky ceasefire into further doubt.

Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face pushback from Arab leaders over President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza and redevelop it under U.S. ownership.

Netanyahu has welcomed the plan, and said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza’s future. Echoing Trump, he said “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the 16-month war.

Their remarks came two weeks before the ceasefire’s first phase is set to end. The second phase, in which Hamas is to release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, has yet to be negotiated.

Rubio said Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force. “As long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible,” he said. “It must be eradicated.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Israel President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/b6Tb0F7ZGP

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) February 16, 2025

U.S. armament shipment arrives in Israel after Trump overturns Biden freeze

Secretary Rubio’s visit comes as Israel receives a U.S. shipment of heavy ammunition previously blocked by the outgoing Biden administration, Israeli media reports confirm Sunday.

The delivery of these U.S.-made 2,000-pound bombs is crucial as Hamas threatens to halt the hostages deal, a move that could end the ceasefire that came into effect 4 weeks ago.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

A shipment of MK-84 2,000-pound bombs from the US has arrived in Israel, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday, officially ending an approximate nine-month freeze by the Biden administration, which US President Donald Trump’s administration reversed upon taking office.

The shipment came in as the IDF has been considering renewing the war in Gaza in the coming two weeks should Hamas cease delivering hostages according to the Phase I deal schedule or should the sides fail to reach a deal for continuing hostage releases in Phase II.

Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group has also been violating the ceasefire enacted in late November, compelling Israel to carry out limited airstrikes against terrorist targets in southern Lebanon.

“The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes deep in Lebanon a short while ago, saying it targeted Hezbollah facilities where activity by the terror group was identified,” The Times of Israel reported. “The Hezbollah sites included rocket launchers and other weapons, according to the military.”

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