Rubio: "Some promising signs" on Hamas demilitarization agreement
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- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there are “promising signs” in talks on Hamas’ demilitarization.
- Egypt and Turkey are reportedly involved in ongoing negotiations tied to the Gaza ceasefire framework.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said “there were some promising signs” in recent days on an agreement about Hamas’ demilitarization.
“We’re very focused on that. There’s been some progress made on that despite public announcements from Hamas. But ultimately we have to see it happen, and we’re hopeful in the next few days we may have good news on that,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News, according to a transcript released by the US State Department.
“I know that our partners in Egypt and Türkiye have been involved in this process,” he said. “There’s been some promising signs over the weekend that we’re getting closer to an agreement with regards to them demilitarizing. But that has to happen. The entirety of this project only works if Hamas is demilitarized. Until that happens, all of it is in question.”
Rubio would not say if the US would support Israel resuming military operations if a demilitarization agreement is not reached.
“Let’s hope we can avoid that. That’s not the outcome we want,” he said.
In mid-April, the US and Hamas held their first direct talks since the Gaza ceasefire, reached in October, as part of efforts to advance the fragile US-brokered agreement, two Hamas sources said.
