Rubio kicks off Mideast trip in Israel as Arab leaders reel from Trump’s Gaza proposal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is kicking of a Mideast tour in Israel on Sunday as Arab leaders reel from President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip to other countries and redevelop it under U.S. ownership.

On Rubio’s first visit to the region as America’s top diplomat he is likely to get a warm welcome from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has praised the plan, and pushback from Arab leaders, who have universally rejected it and are scrambling to come up with a counterproposal.

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas meanwhile remains intact after a major dispute threatened to unravel it last week. But the sides face a fast-approaching deadline in early March to negotiate the next phase, and the war may resume if they don’t reach an agreement.

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