A convoy of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid supplies for the Gaza Strip waits at Egypt's New Administrative Capital, about 45 kilometres east of Cairo, on Sunday — AFP JERUSALEM, Feb 16 (AFP): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israel's prime minister in Jerusalem on Sunday for talks on the Gaza ceasefire, launching a Middle East tour a day after the latest hostage-prisoner exchange.
On his first visit to the region as Washington's top diplomat, Rubio is expected to push US President Donald Trump's widely condemned proposal to take control of Gaza and relocate its more than two million residents.
The scheme that Trump outlined earlier this month, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, lacked details. Trump said Palestinians had "lived a miserable existence" in Gaza and suggested the coastal territory could become the "Riviera of the Middle East", following redevelopment after more than 15 months of war.
Netanyahu welcomed the idea but foreign leaders have largely rejected it.
Rubio arrived hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners-the sixth swap under a fragile ceasefire which the United States helped mediate along with Qatar and Egypt.
"At any moment the fighting could resume. We hope that the calm will continue and that Egypt will pressure Israel to prevent them from restarting the war and displacing people," said Nasser al-Astal, 62, a retired teacher in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis.
Washington, Israel's top ally and weapons supplier, has said it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments but insists that, for now, "the only plan is Trump's".
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