After meetings in Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia to push President Trump’s plan for Gaza and to meet with Russian counterparts on steps to ending the war in Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is holding meetings in Saudi Arabia on Monday to discuss President Donald Trump’s displacement and redevelopment plans for the Gaza Strip and to meet with Russian counterparts on steps to ending the war in Ukraine.
This is Rubio’s first visit to the Middle East as secretary of state, and began with a stop in Israel. There, his team pushed for negotiations to begin for a second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. On Monday, Israel sent a delegation to Cairo to prepare for those talks, just two weeks before the current ceasefire is set to expire. According to the ceasefire deal, which began Jan. 19, talks about the second phase were supposed to start Feb. 3.
Rubio’s meetings in Saudi Arabia and the UAE come as the two countries position themselves as brokers between the United States and Russia. These Gulf states rely heavily on U.S. military support and have investments with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They also share an oil pact and business ties with Russia. Rubio pushes Trump’s Gaza plans in the region
Trump’s vision of a Gaza Strip owned by the United States and refashioned into a « Riviera » of the Middle East, with all its Palestinian residents displaced to other countries, will need Arab buy-in, particularly from wealthy Gulf Arab states. They could be asked to bring pressure on Egypt and Jordan, which Trump says should take in Palestinians permanently relocated from Gaza.
Gulf Arab states would also be expected to finance much of Gaza’s redevelopment as rubble is cleared. Palestinian officials say thousands of bodies and unexploded munitions from Israeli airstrikes remain under the debris.
Saudi Arabia and other key Arab states say they reject any plan that displaces Palestinians from their land, but it’s unclear if they are willing to coalesce behind alternative plans drawn up by Egypt.
