Category World News

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Israel, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as tensions mount in the Middle East over the unprecedented Israeli attack on Qatar last week,  with an emergency session of the Arab-Islamic summit set for Monday in Doha, and as Israel presses ahead with its destruction of Gaza.

Rubio’s trip, which began on Sunday, comes after US President Donald Trump criticised Israel over the brazen and failed attack on Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital.

Before departing for Israel, Rubio told reporters that while Trump was “not happy” about the strike, it was “not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis”.

But he added that the US and Israel would discuss its impact on efforts for a truce in Israel’s war on Gaza.

“The president wants this to be finished with. And finished with meaning 48 hostages released all at once. Hamas is no longer a threat, so we can move on to the next phase, which is, how do you rebuild Gaza?” he said.

“How do you provide security? How do you make sure Hamas never comes back again? That’s the president’s priority… And part of what we’re going to have to discuss as part of this visit is how the events of last week with Qatar impact that.”

Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.

In a post on X on Saturday, Rubio said his focus in Israel would be “on securing the return of hostages, finding ways to make sure humanitarian aid reaches civilians, and addressing the threat posed by Hamas”.

Speaking from the Jordanian capital Amman, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said Rubio would also be engaged in “damage control”, following international condemnation of Israel’s strikes in Qatar.

Salhut noted that the allies’ messaging was not fully aligned. “Netanyahu is still vowing that this perhaps won’t be an isolated incident, despite US promises that it won’t happen again,” she said.

As well as the Doha attack, Salhut said the pair would also have a lot of other topics to discuss, including the Israeli-threatened annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s attack on Qatar, a major non-NATO ally of the US, targeted Hamas leaders who had gathered to discuss a new ceasefire proposal in the war on Gaza put forth by the US. The leadership survived, but six people were killed, including a Qatari security officer.

US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve US or Israeli interests.

The strike also led to broad condemnation from other Arab states, and derailed ceasefire and captive talks brokered by Qatar.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, noted that the US and Qatar have expressed a commitment to continue the push for peace.

“However, late on Saturday, Netanyahu said on social media that it’s Israel’s view that the Hamas leadership needs to be driven out of Qatar, because in Israel’s view, Hamas is not committed to peace,” she said.

“So there’s going to be certain discussions about the next steps forward, given that Trump has said he wants to see an end to the war in Gaza,” she said.

For its part, Hamas has repeatedly said it was willing to release all of the captives it took from Israel and cede control of Gaza to an interim Palestinian administration, in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has called for the expulsion of Gaza’s population and signed an agreement on Thursday to move ahead with a settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible.

On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly voted to back a revival of the two-state solution, in open defiance of Israeli opposition.

Romania has scrambled fighter jets after a drone breached the country’s airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, its Ministry of National Defence said, as Kyiv accused Moscow of expanding its war.

The Romanian move on Saturday came as Poland also deployed aircraft and closed an airport in the eastern city of Lublin over the threat of a drone attack.

Ukraine’s European Union neighbours have been on guard since Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace earlier this week, with the backing of aircraft from its NATO allies.

Romania’s Defence Ministry said it detected the drone incursion late on Saturday, and scrambled two F-16 fighter jets as well as two Eurofighters – part of German air policing missions in Romania – while also warning citizens to take cover.

It said the jets followed the drone until “it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche.

Minister of National Defence Ionut Mosteanu said the F-16 pilots came close to taking down the drone before it left the country’s airspace, adding that helicopters would survey the area near the border to look for potential drone parts.

“But all information at this moment indicates the drone exited airspace to Ukraine,” he told the private television station Antena 3.

Romania, an EU and NATO state which shares a 650km (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has had Russian drone fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X that data showed the drone breached about 10km (6 miles) into Romanian territory and operated in NATO airspace for about 50 minutes.

He alleged that the Russian military knows exactly where its drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air.

“It is an obvious expansion of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act,” Zelenskyy said.

“Sanctions against Russia are needed. Tariffs against Russian trade are needed. Collective defence is needed.”

Sweden also condemned the drone incursion in Romania.

Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard wrote on X that the breach was “another unacceptable violation of NATO airspace”.

“Sweden stands in full solidarity with Romania as a NATO Ally and EU Member State. We are always ready to contribute further to the deterrence and defence of the Alliance.”

NATO had announced plans to beef up the defence of Europe’s eastern flank on Friday, after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace, the first known shots fired by a member of the Western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

While Russia denies targeting Poland, several European countries, including France, Germany and Sweden, have stepped up their support for defending Polish airspace in response.

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, expressed concern at the Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace, but said that it remained unclear if it was a deliberate act by Russia.

“We think it’s an unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous development,” Rubio told reporters before departing on a trip to Israel and the United Kingdom.

“No doubt about it: the drones were intentionally launched. The question is whether the drones were targeted to go into Poland specifically.”

Rubio said that if the drones were targeted at Poland, “if the evidence leads us there, then obviously that’ll be a highly escalatory move”.

“There are a number of other possibilities as well, but I think we’d like to have all the facts and consult with our allies before we make specific determinations,” he added.

The comments echo suggestions by US President Donald Trump that the Russian incursions into Polish airspace were a mistake.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, however, has dismissed that.

“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Tusk said on X on Friday.

Trump, meanwhile, said on Saturday that he was ready to impose major sanctions on Russia – just as soon as all NATO nations did the same thing and stopped buying Russian oil.

“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Israeli forces have ramped up attacks on Gaza City, systematically levelling buildings, including United Nations schools sheltering refugees, to force 900,000 residents to make the dangerous journey south to the overcrowded “safe zone” of the al-Mawasi camp.

The Israeli military continued its scorched-earth campaign on Saturday, launching strikes in rapid succession in a bid to clear the area for takeover, and dropping leaflets warning starving and terrified Palestinians to flee for their lives.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that fighter jets were dropping bombs “every 10 to 15 minutes” on residential buildings and public facilities, often failing to give people sufficient time to evacuate to safety.

“The pace and pattern of the attacks suggest one thing: The Israeli army is deliberately putting extreme pressure on places that are densely populated with displaced families,” he said, adding that displaced people were now concentrated in the city’s western flank.

But, he added, even as the army pummels the city, many residents are staying put or even returning after attempting the journey south to the “crammed and under-resourced” al-Mawasi, where Israel has been frequently striking shelters.

Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the head of al-Shifa Hospital, said residents were moving from the east to the west of Gaza City, but “only a small number of people have been able to reach the south”.

“Even those who manage to flee south often find no place to stay, as the al-Mawasi area is completely full and Deir el-Balah is also overcrowded,” said Abu Salmiya, adding that many have returned to Gaza City after failing to find shelter or basic services.

The Israeli army claimed on X that more than 250,000 people had fled the enclave’s largest urban centre.

At least 49 people were killed in Gaza City on Saturday.

Reverse displacement

Reporting from the south, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary witnessed a steady stream of families arriving from the north to the al-Mawasi camp, believing that they were going to find “water, hygiene – everything that Israeli forces advertised”.

Three of the Israeli-backed GHF aid distribution sites are located in the al-Mawasi area, as part of Israel’s strategy to lure Palestinians southwards. However, human rights groups and governments have harshly criticised the GHF after more than 850 people were shot in the vicinity of distribution sites, according to United Nations figures.

Faraj Ashour, a displaced Palestinian who lost his legs in an Israeli attack, told Al Jazeera that he would be sending his 13-year-old son “to his death” if he dispatched him to find food for the family.

Al-Mawasi was already crowded before Israel’s invasion of Gaza City, filled with Palestinians displaced from the eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis. But now, it is at breaking point, with new arrivals unable to find space to pitch their tents.

“I went to al-Mawasi, but the costs were too high… and it was almost impossible to find a proper spot without paying extra,” said Ashour. “We stayed two days. During that time, the tent next to us was bombed even in what they call a safe zone.”

Having travelled from Gaza City, Ashour is now preparing with his family to move back, as part of an apparent trend of reverse displacement, where desperate people return to the north.

“There was no safety. It’s all lies. At first, I believed them, but I realised it was better to return to Gaza City. If they’re going to kill me, may as well be in Gaza City, rather than risk everything in al-Mawasi,” he said.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Saturday that 86 percent of Gaza is either a militarised zone or subjected to displacement threats.

Dozens of Palestinians killed

At least 62 Palestinians have been killed across the war-battered Strip since dawn.

The bulk of attacks have been focused on Gaza City, where fighter jets bombed three UN schools in the Shati refugee camp, which were sheltering displaced Palestinians.

“People who once lived in apartments are now seeking shelter in packed schools. They are the last refuge for many families. Yet they get attacked and are forced onto the street without a clear path of where to go,” said Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud.

For the past few weeks, the Israeli military has levelled Gaza City’s high-rise towers one by one, repeatedly claiming the buildings are being used by Hamas, without providing any evidence.

On Saturday, Israeli forces continued to target high-rise towers, with Minister of Defence Israel Katz posting a video purporting to show the Burj al-Nur tower crumbling to the ground.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that three Israeli air strikes targeted the public prosecution building, southwest of Gaza City.

Several Palestinians in Gaza City were also injured after a suicide drone attacked an outdoor dining hall, which was used as a charging point for phones, laptops and lights.

Outside Gaza City, seven of the dead were hungry Palestinians killed while seeking aid in al-Wadi, in the central Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported an Israeli artillery attack on central Gaza’s Bureij camp that killed at least one person.

Hospital sources say four people were killed in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced people at Palestine Stadium in central Gaza.

Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Amal neighborhood, northwest of Khan Younis.

The Palestine Red Crescent field hospital said that five Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a displaced people’s tent in Khan Younis.