U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Qatar’s prime minister Friday ahead of his trip to Israel, underscoring the Trump administration’s bid to balance ties with key Middle East allies after Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha.
Despite tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rubio will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a two-day visit. It is a show of support for the increasingly isolated country before the United Nations holds a debate on the recognition of a Palestinian state, which Netanyahu opposes.
Rubio is also expected to travel to a divisive archeological site in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of what they hope is an eventual independent nation.
The same day his trip to Israel was announced, America’s top diplomat sat down at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. There was no immediate official U.S. comment on the talks, but the Qatari Embassy in Washington posted a photo of the three men.
The Trump administration is walking a delicate line between two major allies after Israel attacked the Qatari capital, where leaders of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas had gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a cease-fire in the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza. Qatar is a key mediator, and while its leaders have vowed to press forward, the next steps are uncertain for a long-sought deal to halt the fighting and release hostages taken from Israel.
