Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the release of hostages from Gaza is the “most emergent and immediate phase” of the peace plan that President Trump outlined last week, which negotiators are set to discuss this week in Cairo.
“Let’s discuss through the mediators the logistics and the mechanics behind how that happens, and that has to happen very quickly. That cannot drag on,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
On Friday, Hamas agreed to parts of the peace deal, including the release of all the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he has sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” outlining a goal to limit the negotiations to “a time frame of a few days.”
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are expected to represent the U.S. at talks in Egypt on Monday. Rubio said conversations are underway ahead of Monday’s meeting in Egypt, and he outlined that the talks should center on the logistics behind the release of the hostages.
“Beyond that is what happens after that, and that is, how do we ensure that we can create and help build a Gaza free of terrorism, free of Hamas, free of anything like Hamas,” Rubio said. “And that’s going to take work and some time not just to agree on, but to implement.”
Mr. Trump unveiled the plan last week, which called for Hamas to free all the remaining hostages and for the Israeli military to begin withdrawing from parts of Gaza in phases. The plan, backed by Netanyahu, also proposed handing over parts of Gaza to a “technocratic” Palestinian committee, along with deploying a temporary security force backed by Arab states.
Hamas on Friday agreed to release all hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The proposal specifically called for the group to release within 72 hours of an agreement the remaining hostages who were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. It also called on Israel to release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences, along with 1,700 other Gazans who were detained after the start of the conflict.
On the hostages, Rubio said the “expectation is that this happens quickly,” though he acknowledged that there are some logistical hurdles.
“Reality is, this is a war zone. I mean, this is a place that’s suffered a tremendous amount of destruction. That fighting needs to stop,” Rubio said. “You can’t release hostages while there’s still bombardments going on.”
Rubio outlined that he expects when an agreement is reached on the logistics of the hostage release, the bombardments will stop, adding that “some of that activity has already decreased somewhat.”
“We want to get the hostages out as soon as possible. For that to happen, there can’t be a war going on in the middle of it,” Rubio said. “And Hamas has to agree to turn them over. We have to have the right people go in and get them. That’s what we’re going to focus on right now.”
The secretary of state said “it’s going to be very important for our partners and region who signed on to this deal,” urging the leaders of countries including the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt to put “a lot of pressure on Hamas to make sure this happens as quickly as possible.”
Since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage, Israel and Hamas have been at war, as Israel has waged an intense aerial bombardment and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israeli authorities say around 50 hostages are still in Gaza, fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive.
Beyond the hostage agreement, Hamas suggested Friday that other portions of the deal should be subject to negotiation, while Mr. Trump said he believes the group is “ready for a lasting PEACE.”
Rubio said setting up a civilian Palestinian leadership that “are not terrorists and aren’t sponsoring terrorism — that’s not going to happen in 72 hours.”
“It’s going to require a lot of work and a lot of international support, and that’s the end goal here of this entire endeavor after you get the hostages out,” he said.
Still, Rubio insisted that “for the first time in a long time, you see the framework and the output lines of something that could work.”
