Rubio says he is hopeful of Gaza ceasefire in ‘near future’

Trump administration has set expectations that ceasefire deal could be announced in next two weeks

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said he was hopeful a Gaza ceasefire would be secured in the “near future”, but said challenges remained and blamed Hamas for the process dragging on.

The Trump administration has set expectations that a ceasefire deal could be announced in the next two weeks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent several days in Washington this week.

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“Hamas basically wants Israel to withdraw completely and allow them to go back to being Hamas," Mr Rubio told reporters during a visit to Malaysia. "Obviously, the Israelis aren’t going to agree to that. One of the fundamental challenges is Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm.”

Despite this “sticking point”, Mr Rubio said he is hopeful Israel and Hamas will move to indirect talks.

“It appears that generally the terms have been agreed to, but obviously now you need to have talks about how you implement those terms,” he said.

Mr Rubio said he had on Wednesday spoken to Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who said he was optimistic that talks would start soon, and that these would be aided by Qatar and Egypt.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce later told reporters that US President Donald Trump had made it clear he was optimistic for a deal. But “all of us understand that this is a difficult process", she added.

Ms Bruce was also asked about an incident in the occupied West Bank this week, when a group of Israeli settlers lit fires near a Byzantine Christian cemetery in Taibeh.

“We do condemn, so there's no confusion, criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and support actions to ensure all civilians, including Christian civilians, remain safe,” she said.