Secretary of State Marco Rubio did the Sunday show rounds this morning with one single message: There is progress in Gaza, but lasting peace in the region will take some time. Unfortunately, the hosts who interviewed him wanted to paint the Donald Trump administration's peace plan as some sort of happily-ever-after story, so they can mock him if it doesn't happen by tomorrow. Thankfully, Rubio brought the truth, as he does.
He suggested we should all look at this as a two-phase operation. Phase one involves Hamas releasing hostages and Israel moving back to the "yellow line," and phase two is what happens after that, which involves an international group coming and creating an international governing structure led by Palestinian technocrats. And he says the two phases will overlap.
Related: Trump and Netanyahu's New Peace Plan: 'If Hamas Rejects, Israel Will Finish the Job'
First up, it sounds like Hamas could release its hostages as soon as this week. On "Meet the Press," host Kristen Welker asked Rubio, "Prime Minister Netanyahu has indicated he expects the hostages to be released as soon as this week. Is that your expectation, that the hostages will be released this coming week, Mr. Secretary?"
While Rubio wouldn't commit 100% to that timeline, he implied that the potential is there, and that it would happen as soon as possible, but there are a lot of logistics to consider. "You got to make sure that there's no fighting going on. You have to make sure the Red Cross can get there, what time they're going to be there, where they're going to be. All of that has to be worked through, and that's not easy in the middle of a active war zone," he replied.
On ABC's "This Week," Martha Raddatz seemed intent on pressing Trump's "72-hour deadline," and asked if the clock was ticking on that.
Rubio replied, "The goal in saying 72 hours is he wants to see it happen quickly. This is not something that can drag out. We cannot be here three weeks from now still discussing the logistics of how hostages are going to be released. That has to happen very quickly in order for the rest of this deal to gain momentum."
.@SecRubio on Gaza: "This is not something that can drag out. We cannot be here three weeks from now still discussing the logistics of how hostages are going to be released. That has to happen really quickly in order for the rest of this deal to gain momentum." pic.twitter.com/S8P3KYXxUp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 5, 2025
He also emphasized that they can't set up a new government in three days either. While Hamas has agreed to release all hostages and has, he believes, accepted the principles of the plan, Hamas must disarm. He said, "As long as there's a threat emanating from Gaza against Israel's security, be it Hamas or some successor organization, as long as there are people, organizations inside of Gaza who possess rockets, build tunnels, want to kidnap, murder, and rape Israeli citizens and attack Israel, there isn't going to be peace."
Rubio said numerous times that mediators were in the midst of meetings at this very moment. Setting up a new governance structure that isn't led by Hamas isn't something the world can wave a magic wand and have happen, and he made it very clear that Hamas will not rule Palestine. The ultimate goal is an international governance structure led by Palestinian technocrats — civil leaders who do not sponsor terror. That is truly the only path to peace.
So, how does that happen? It's gonna take international intervention beyond the United States and Israel. While appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Rubio made it clear that Hamas is not a "political movement," but a group of "killers, savages, and terrorists." And what's different this time is the unprecedented number of countries from all over the world willing to build pressure to make this happen, thanks to our president.
What gives you hope here is the fact that for the first time in this entire endeavor, you have the United Arab Emirates, you have Qatar, you have Saudi Arabia, you have Turkey, you have Egypt, you have Jordan, you have Indonesia. You have all these countries, the European countries, all lined up behind the plan and putting a tremendous amount of pressure to make it happen.
And President Trump's the one that put that together. He put together this coalition pushing in the same direction with us to try to get this, not just the hostages released, but this thing resolved.
Here's his entire statement on that:
.@SecRubio: For the first time in this entire endeavor, you have the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, all these European countries lined up behind a plan putting tremendous pressure to make it happen. @POTUS is the one putting that together.” pic.twitter.com/QbbFeda4El
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 5, 2025
Despite Rubio's insistence that this is a complicated and nuanced process, the morning show ladies seemed intent on trying to wrap it into a neat little bow so they could pounce next week when Gaza hasn't become a peaceful utopia. They were hunting for soundbites, but Rubio didn't cave.
Welker used this opportunity to ask, "Does the Trump administration support Palestinian statehood?
Rubio replied that this is not a "yes or not question" but a "process." He added
Ultimately, at the end of the day, we've always said, this has been the consistent position of this administration, of myself, and of a lot of people that have watched this for a very long time. In order for that aspiration to even be credible, it has to be realistic. We can't have a Palestinian state that's governed by Hamas or by some terrorist organization whose stated purpose for existence is the destruction of the Jewish state. That would never work.
Until Gaza is governed by people that are not interested in destroying Israel, until there are no security threats emanating against Israel from Gaza, you're not... forget about statehood, you're not gonna have peace.
While the MSM hosts seemed intent on getting Rubio to make some sort of statement they could play "gotcha" with later, the secretary didn't fall prey to their push for a "war is over" moment. Instead, he remained hopeful but cautious and realistic, and he doubled down on the fact that there was only one man who could bring the world this close to potentially ending an eternal conflict:
"This is the closest we have been. This is the most progress we have seen with regards to ending this conflict and getting these hostages released in a very long time," he said, adding, "It all happened because President Trump put that on the table and built this international coalition — including Arab and Islamic countries. Without him putting that together, we wouldn't even be having this conversation right now."
"This the most progress we have seen," says @SecRubio.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 5, 2025
"It all happened because President Trump put that on the table and built this international coalition — including Arab and Islamic countries. Without him putting that together, we wouldn't even be having this conversation." pic.twitter.com/5RqMKus6gx
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