{"id":96614,"date":"2025-10-25T02:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T02:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/96614\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T02:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T02:35:14","slug":"rubio-tours-us-led-center-in-israel-overseeing-the-gaza-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/96614\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio tours US-led center in Israel overseeing the Gaza ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"

KIRYAT GAT, Israel (AP) \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday toured a U.S.-led center in Israel overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, as the Trump administration worked to set up an international security force in the territory and shore up the tenuous truce<\/a> between Israel and Hamas.<\/p>\n

Rubio was the latest in a series of top U.S. officials to visit the center for civilian and military coordination<\/a>. U.S. Vice President JD Vance was there earlier this week<\/a> where he announced its opening, and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president\u2019s son-in-law, were also in Israel.<\/p>\n

Around 200 U.S. troops are working alongside the Israeli military and delegations from other countries at the center, planning the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza. On Friday, an Associated Press reporter saw international personnel there with flags from Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, Australia and Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have a lot to be proud of in the first 10 days, 11 days, 12 days of implementation, where we have faced real challenges along the way,\u201d said Rubio. <\/p>\n

He named the U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Steven Fagin, to lead the civilian side of the coordination center in southern Israel. The center\u2019s top military official is Adm. Brad Cooper of the U.S. Central Command.<\/p>\n

Optimistic tone<\/p>\n

The United States is seeking support from other allies, especially Gulf Arab nations, to create an international stabilization force to be deployed to Gaza and train a Palestinian force. <\/p>\n

Rubio said U.S. officials were working on possible language to secure a United Nations mandate or other international authorization for the force in Gaza because several potential participants would require one before they can take part. He said many countries had expressed interest, and decisions need to be made about the rules of engagement.<\/p>\n

He said such countries need to know what they\u2019re signing up for, including \u201cwhat is their mandate, what is their command, under what authority are they going to be operating, who\u2019s going to be in charge of it, what is their job?\u201d He also said Israel needs to be comfortable with the countries that are participating. <\/p>\n

Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> on Thursday. Israeli media has referred to the parade of American officials visiting their country to make sure the ceasefire stays on track as \u201cBibi-sitting.\u201d The term, using Netanyahu\u2019s nickname of Bibi, refers to an old campaign ad when Netanyahu positioned himself as the \u201cBibi-sitter\u201d whom voters could trust with their kids.<\/p>\n

Rebuilding in rubble<\/p>\n

In Gaza City, Palestinians who have been trying to rebuild their lives have returned home to rubble. <\/p>\n

Families are scrounging to find shelter, patching together material to sleep on with no blankets or kitchen utensils. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t find any place other than here. I\u2019m sitting in front of my house, where else can I go? In front of the rubble, every day I look at my home and feel sorrow for it, but what can I do?\u201d said Kamal Al-Yazji as he lighted pieces of sponge to cook coffee in Gaza City. <\/p>\n

His three-story house, once home to 13 people, has been destroyed, forcing his family to live in a makeshift tent. He said they\u2019re suffering from mosquitos and wild dogs and they can barely afford food because their banknotes are so worn that shopkeepers won\u2019t accept them. <\/p>\n

As Umm Muhammad al-Araishi walked in the Gaza City neighborhood where she lived before the war, she was looking for a familiar landmark, the Rantisi hospital. But the hospital and the buildings around it were heavily damaged by Israel \u2014 which had declared the area a \u201ccombat zone\u201d \u2014 to the point where little was recognizable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t find the place, I didn\u2019t recognize where my house is, I didn\u2019t recognize the whole neighborhood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rubio said Friday that a conglomerate of up to a dozen groups would be involved in aid efforts in Gaza, including from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations. However, he said there would be no role for the U.N. aid agency in Gaza, known as UNRWA. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe United Nations is here, they\u2019re on the ground, we\u2019re willing to work with them if they can make it work,\u201d said Rubio. \u201cBut not UNRWA. UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week the International Court of Justice said<\/a> that Israel must allow UNRWA to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n

Israel has not allowed UNRWA to bring in its supplies since March. But the agency continues to operate in Gaza, running health centers, mobile medical teams, sanitation services and school classes for children. It says it has 6,000 trucks of supplies waiting to get in.<\/p>\n

The agency has faced criticism from Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who say the group is deeply infiltrated by Hamas.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s war coverage at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/israel-hamas-war<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KIRYAT GAT, Israel (AP) \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday toured a U.S.-led center in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[120,49,47354,782,54,9281,50,69,122,51,85,119,46,1984,61,45061,11487,64434,11741,2034,43,238,7319,7313,64433,4497,1032,12131,121,12526,126],"class_list":["post-96614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-brad-cooper","tag-courts","tag-donald-trump","tag-foreign-aid","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-strip","tag-general-news","tag-hamas","tag-il","tag-international-agreements","tag-israel","tag-israel-government","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-jared-kushner","tag-jd-vance","tag-kamal-al-yazji","tag-marco-rubio","tag-mideast-wars","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-religion","tag-steve-witkoff","tag-steven-fagin","tag-united-nations","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}