United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall on Sunday alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commencing a week-long trip to Israel focusing on the Gaza conflict.
At the Jewish holy site, Rubio prayed for “peace” in Israel and beyond, while Netanyahu hailed US-Israel relations, amid rising global tensions following the IDF’s strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar last week and its plan to conquer Gaza City next month.
“I think [Rubio’s] visit here is a testimony to the durability, the strength of the Israeli-American alliance, that is as strong and durable as the stones of the Western Wall that we just touched,” Netanyahu told reporters at the site.
As is traditional at the landmark, Rubio inserted a note into the cracks of the wall, which read: “May peace reign upon this Holy Land and in the world.”
Joined by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and the three officials’ wives, the two prayed for the safety of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and offered a special prayer for US President Donald Trump.
Following the prayers, the group toured newly opened archaeological excavations from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE) in nearby underground tunnels along the Wall, led by Mordechai Suli Eliav, the CEO of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
“Under President Trump, and Secretary Rubio, and their entire team, this alliance has never been stronger, and we deeply appreciate it,” the premier said, following the tour, before the two shook hands and left the site together.
Rubio did not make public remarks, and neither official took questions from reporters. Neither side’s office provided an account of a bilateral meeting between the two leaders.
On Monday, Rubio is slated to meet with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, and is also expected to take part in the inauguration of a new tunnel in Jerusalem’s Old City for visitors approaching the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews, which is also sacred for Muslims as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Following the Western Wall visit, Netanyahu convened a meeting on the hostages in Gaza, the office of one of the attending ministers told The Times of Israel.
Rubio arrived in Israel on Sunday morning as tensions rose between Jerusalem and foreign capitals, and as the IDF intensified its attacks against northern Gaza.
The visit came less than a week after the military attacked Hamas leaders inside the US ally Qatar’s capital city, Doha, sparking fierce regional and global condemnation and causing concern over fallout with Qatar, its neighboring Gulf states, and the Trump administration.
On Friday, Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff had dinner with the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in New York, after al-Thani held a four-hour-long meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Rubio at the White House.
On the tarmac in Washington ahead of his flight, Rubio told reporters that the US was “not happy” about the seemingly failed Israeli strike, but said the attack will not change Washington’s allied status with Israel.
The secretary added that Trump “wants Hamas defeated, he wants the war to end, he wants all 48 hostages home, including those that are deceased, and he wants it all at once,” Rubio continued. “And we’ll have to discuss about how the events last week had an impact on the ability to achieve that in short order.”
Rubio’s arrival also came as fighting in Gaza City continued to intensify on Sunday, with Palestinians continuing to flee amid looming Israeli plans to capture the city.
Rubio said ahead of the trip that he will be seeking answers from Israeli officials about how they see the way forward in Gaza.
The secretary’s trip also marks a show of support as a flurry of Western states prepare to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this month.
According to the Axios news site, among the topics that Rubio will discuss with Israeli officials is the potential annexation of the West Bank as a response to Western nations’ planned recognition of a Palestinian state.
Rubio has warned countries considering recognizing Palestinian statehood during the UNGA that Israel could take “reciprocal” action in the form of annexing the West Bank.
Two Israeli officials told Axios that “Rubio has signaled in private meetings that he doesn’t oppose West Bank annexations and the Trump administration won’t stand in the way.”
At the same time, the report cited a US official saying White House and State Department officials who have held internal meetings on the issue fear Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank “would lead to the collapse of the Abraham Accords and tarnish Trump’s legacy.”
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to advance a West Bank settlement expansion plan cutting across land the Palestinians seek for a state — a move the United Arab Emirates warned could undermine the US-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel ties.
The report said Netanyahu wants “to figure out from Rubio” how much leeway he has on annexation.
Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.