As Tension Lingers, Rubio Visits Israel

As international pressure mounts over Israel's latest offensive in Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Jerusalem to reaffirm "unbreakable" ties with Israel—even as both allies face global criticism and a humanitarian crisis deepens. After their visit to the site on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called US-Israeli relations "as durable as the stones in the Western Wall," the BBC reports. Rubio didn't argue that, but he told reporters as he left the US on Saturday that President Trump remains unhappy with Israel over its strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar.

The two-day visit is a demonstration of US support for the increasingly isolated Israel before the UN debates the creation of a Palestinian state, per the AP, which is fiercely opposed by Israel's government. Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians and wounded dozens more on Sunday. The Israel Defense Forces reported carrying out multiple waves of airstrikes in Gaza City over the past week and said more than 500 targets were hit, per the BBC. Rubio said Saturday that he would stress in his talks Trump's impatience for the war in Gaza to end, per the New York Times.