US Secretary of State Rubio: Hamas cannot exist after hostage deal is over

‘If the people who are in charge of Gaza are the same guys that created October 7th, then we still have the same problem.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the ultimate challenge in the current conflict with Gaza is the fate of Hamas once the ceasefire phases end.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly on Thursday, Rubio addressed the possibility of Hamas remaining in power in the Gaza Strip.

“The core problem here remains, and that is ultimately… an entity like Hamas, whose expressed purpose is the destruction of the Jewish state, and who is willing to commit horrifying atrocities against civilians,” he said.

He called Hamas’s governance of Gaza “a threat to Israel’s national security.” He added, “What country in the world can be expected to live alongside an enemy armed, capable, and willing to commit horrifying atrocities?”

Although Rubio said he approved of the ceasefire deal, he acknowledged that it came at an “extraordinary cost” and called it “unfair” that dozens of terrorists were released for every Israeli hostage.

Rubio also observed, “But it tells you how much, you know, we value life compared to what the other side, the Hamas animals, view this.”

“The real challenge here is going to be what happens when the ceasefire period expires. Who’s going to govern Gaza? Who’s going to rebuild Gaza? Who’s going to be in charge of Gaza? Because if the people who are in charge of Gaza are the same guys that created October 7th, then we still have the same problem,” he continued.

Although he acknowledged the severity of the challenge of post-war Gaza, Rubio also highlighted potential advantages and accomplishments.

He expressed hope that the Lebanese government would become more powerful than Hezbollah, that relations between Syria’s new regime and Israel would remain stable, and that Iran would be weakened, with most of its proxies defeated.

Rubio also expressed hope for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, despite the Saudis’ insistence on a Palestinian state as a precondition.

“So there’s a lot of work to be done there. None of it is certain. All of it is hard, but real opportunities that we couldn’t have even imagined 90 days ago,” Rubio concluded.