Marco Rubio backs Trump's Gaza proposal as he visits Israel in his first tour of the Middle East

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as he kicked off his first tour of the Middle East.

Transcript

00:00U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel as the first stop in his first tour

00:06of the Middle East.

00:08On his trip, he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

00:13Rubio discussed U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial Gaza proposal with the Israeli

00:18premier among a range of other regional issues.

00:22The new U.S. State Secretary backed Trump's plan for Gaza as he cited a need for change.

00:28What cannot continue is the same cycle where we repeat over and over again and wind up

00:32in the exact same place.

00:34Related to that, the president's been very clear.

00:36Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force.

00:41And frankly, as long as it stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer

00:45or as a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.

00:54Netanyahu says Trump's plan is the only viable option that enables a different future.

00:59The Israeli prime minister says he is maintaining close contact with the U.S. president to navigate

01:04Israel's next steps.

01:08President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us.

01:14We have a common strategy and we can't always share the details of this strategy with the

01:20public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all

01:27our hostages are not released until the last one of them.

01:32Rubio will set off to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next as he continues

01:37his tour.

01:38He's opted to skip Egypt and Jordan after they refused to accept Palestinians displaced

01:43from Gaza.