A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Marco Rubio is in the Middle East, and his first stop as secretary of state in the region was Israel. Here's what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to say about their meeting.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: We talked about, how do we complete the change in the Middle East?
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Change in the Middle East. Rubio today is in Saudi Arabia, where he will be discussing President Trump's plan to turn Gaza into a seaside real estate development and displace all the Palestinians. He'll also meet a Russian delegation about ending the war in Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: Let's bring in NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. So first, walk us through Secretary Rubio's discussions in Israel.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning, A. So his main message is pushing Trump's plan for Gaza and ensuring the ceasefire there holds long enough to release all Israeli hostages held there by Hamas. And he made clear the U.S.-Israeli alliance has never been stronger, particularly under Trump, of course. Now, he arrived in Israel the day after another exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees took place - and prisoners. And this ceasefire deal, it expires in two weeks, right? So Trump officials are saying now that there will be a second phase of this deal to bring home more hostages. So while Rubio's visit is to see all of this through on the Israeli side, he's also in the region to reinforce Trump's plan after the ceasefire to rebuild Gaza under U.S. ownership and permanently displace Palestinians outside. And after meeting Netanyahu in Israel yesterday, Rubio doubled down on the plan.
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MARCO RUBIO: It may have shocked and surprised many. But what cannot continue is the same cycle where we repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so displacing Palestinians outside Gaza was an idea relegated to the far right in Israel until recently. I mean, it now has the backing of Israel's prime minister. Tell us, what's he saying?
BATRAWY: Well, Netanyahu has called Trump's vision for Gaza revolutionary and says it did not come as a surprise because they'd spoken about it before it was announced by Trump earlier this month. And while addressing the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations yesterday in Israel, Netanyahu said Gaza has been described as the biggest open-air prison, but that people there now should have the choice to leave. And he said this.
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NETANYAHU: The possibilities that loom today before us have never been before us before, have never been available to us as they are now. And we intend to pursue them to the full.
MARTÍNEZ: So the thing is, I mean, the plan for Gaza will need Arab buy-in, especially from the wealthy Arab Gulf states. Tell us what Secretary Rubio might be hearing when he talks to leaders in Saudi Arabia for the UAE meeting today and tomorrow.
BATRAWY: Well, today, A, actually marks 500 days of this war since the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel in 2023. And public sentiment here in the region has turned even harder on Israel, and that's because of the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since. Now, Saudi Arabia's crown prince was close to establishing ties with Israel two years ago, but he has since described Israel's war in Gaza as a genocide. And so there's really no indication that ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia are on the horizon, at least for the moment.
Now, the thing to keep in mind is that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, A, rely on U.S. military support. And they have business ties with Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. But they also have an oil pact and business ties with Russia. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also positioning themselves as brokers between the U.S. and Russia. Now, you know, Rubio's leading a team of White House officials today to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with Kremlin officials during their time there to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Now, these talks are ahead of what could be a Trump-Putin summit in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine says they're not part of the talks today. But Ukraine's president is in the UAE right now, and he's expected to head next to Saudi Arabia.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thank you very much.
BATRAWY: Thanks a lot. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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