Rubio slams UK, France, Canada for undermining peace and encouraging Hamas
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State (photo: Getty Images)
Plans by the United Kingdom, France, and Canada to recognize Palestine encourage Hamas militants and also undermine peace negotiations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News Radio.
Rubio stated that a Palestinian state cannot be created without Israel's consent. At the same time, neither France, nor Canada, nor the United Kingdom can even say where exactly Palestine would be located or who would govern it.
"So think about it now if you're Hamas. You're Hamas. You're holding – you're still holding 20 innocent people as hostages. You're holding the bodies of over 50 of the people you massacred, raped, and killed during this – on October 7th of 2023. You're sitting there hiding in some tunnel somewhere as cowards, and then you're reading or hearing in the press that all of these countries are rallying to your side – because this is the Hamas side. At the end of the day, the Hamas side is the Palestinian statehood side," he added.
According to the Secretary of State, Britain's threats to recognize Palestine if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire by the end of September harm peace negotiations.
"If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September. So they're not going to agree to a ceasefire. I mean, it's so clumsy," he explained.
Rubio believes that all three countries have large electoral groups that pressure their governments to support recognition of Palestine regardless of the geopolitical consequences.
"I wish all these countries would get together for once and maybe in one clear voice say you must release these 20 living hostages who are – that's what they are; they're hostages – you must release them immediately. I wish there was as much attention paid to that as some of the other factors here," the Secretary of State noted.
Starmer's statement
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that his country would recognize Palestine if Israel does not end the war in the Gaza Strip by September.
At the same time, the head of the British government emphasized that Hamas militants must release all hostages and sign a ceasefire agreement.
