Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that moves by the Israeli parliament toward annexation of the already occupied West Bank could jeopardize President Donald Trump’s plan to end the conflict in Gaza.
Rubio was speaking before traveling to Israel to help oversee efforts to maintain the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, and to advance peace negotiations on the deal’s next steps. He is the latest senior US official to do so after a surge in violence raised fears the truce could collapse.
“It’s a Knesset vote, but I think obviously the president has made it clear that this is not something that we would support at this time,” Rubio said, speaking to reporters Wednesday evening on the tarmac.
His comments came after a bill to apply Israeli law to the West Bank, a move seen as amounting to an annexation of land Palestinians view as part of a future state, won preliminary approval from the Israeli parliament earlier Wednesday.
“It’s a democracy, they’re going to have their votes. People are going to take these positions,” Rubio said. But “right now,” he said, “we think it could be counterproductive.”
The vote comes weeks after Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. It was the first of four steps needed to pass the law, according to Reuters, which reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party did not support the legislation.
Rubio was the latest US official to visit Israel in recent days, following Vice President JD Vance, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
On Wednesday, Vance sought to emphasize that U.S. officials were not flocking to Israel in an effort to babysit the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that Israel was a partner and not a “vassal state” as questions grew around the next steps in Trump’s peace plan.
Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged warm words at a joint news conference Wednesday as they sought to project confidence about the future of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with discussions around a future international stabilization force in Gaza becoming a focal point of discussions this week.
“I never said it was easy, but I am optimistic that the ceasefire will be respected and that we can actually build a better future in the entire Middle East,” Vance said.
His comments come after episodes of violence in Gaza in recent days threatened to undermine the truce agreement, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the fragile ceasefire.
The two sides also clashed over delays in returning the bodies of hostages held by Hamas and persistent obstacles to aid access to the enclave.
The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top legal body, said in an advisory opinion Wednesday that Israel is required to facilitate U.N. action. aid efforts in Gaza. The case follows Israel’s decision last year to effectively ban UNRWA, the United Nations humanitarian agency that supports Palestinian refugees.
Israel has faced growing international backlash in recent months, not only over its war in Gaza, but also the rise in settler violence and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank over the past two years.
Israel conquered the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Middle East war and has defended settlement expansion in the West Bank, but much of the international community considers them illegal.
Settlement expansion has also been seen as directly endangering the Palestinian cause and a major obstacle to resolving the region’s decades-long conflict, with Palestinians viewing the three territories as part of a future state.
A number of world powers, including France and Britain, officially recognized a Palestinian state last month.
“It’s a complex part of the world,” Rubio said Wednesday. “I think every day is going to bring opportunities and it’s also going to bring challenges, okay? We’re facing decades and decades of this stuff.”
Despite warning about the impact that the Israeli Knesset’s annexation moves could have on peace efforts in the region, Rubio remains optimistic about the future of the current ceasefire agreement.
“There is still work to do and we know that,” he said Wednesday.
“This is a historic peace agreement that President Trump reached and now we must ensure that it endures and that we continue to build on it. »
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