Marco Rubio in Israel After Prisoner and Hostage Exchange

Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday. This meeting comes one day after the exchange of three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for 369 Palestinian prisoners. This is Rubio's first trip to the Middle East since taking office as Secretary of State. According to reports, he is expected to discuss Donald Trump's proposal regarding the control of Gaza and the relocation of its residents to Egypt and Jordan. Netanyahu expressed gratitude on Saturday for Trump's full support of Israel's upcoming decisions regarding Gaza. Trump also stated on his social media platform, Truth Social, that it is now up to Israel to decide what to do, and the United States will support any decision they make. Rubio arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, the same day that the sixth exchange of hostages and prisoners took place since the ceasefire began. During this exchange, Sasha Tropanov, 29, a Russian-Israeli citizen, Yair Horn, 46, an Argentine-Israeli citizen, and Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36, an Israeli-American citizen, were released after 498 days of captivity in Khan Younis, located in southern Gaza. Reports indicate that these individuals are in better physical condition compared to three hostages released a week earlier who were severely emaciated. Before his trip to Israel, Marco Rubio was in Munich, where he emphasized the importance of close coordination to address the destabilizing behavior of the Islamic Republic, particularly their non-compliance with nuclear agreements, during a meeting with European officials. The G7 members, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the USA, condemned the destabilizing actions of the Islamic Republic in a statement made during their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.