US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning.
Three Israeli sources told CNN before the meeting that the Israeli leader was expected to raise his government’s potential West Bank annexation plans with Rubio. Talks were also expected to address the Israeli strike on Hamas in Doha and Israel’s intentions to expand its war in Gaza.
Some context: Israel has established Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in defiance of international law. Palestinians want the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza for a future state, a position supported by most of the international community.
Yesterday, Rubio visited the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem with Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
And this evening, Rubio is scheduled to attend the opening of the Pilgrimage Road at the City of David, a controversial archeological dig in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.
The dig was first inaugurated by the former US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who said it vindicated President Donald Trump’s decision in December 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
That same year, Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall, breaking decades of US precedent which held that the status of Jerusalem was to be determined in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
Rubio’s trip comes after Israel’s strike in Doha stalled war talks just days after Hamas said it was reviewing a US-backed ceasefire proposal.
Before the trip, Rubio said he hoped to gain more clarity on Israel’s strategy and to “get a much better understanding of what their plans are moving forward.”