As one “historic mission” described the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio coordinating the ceasefire in Gaza, saying Washington and its partners are working to maintain it, provide aid and prepare for the entry into the region of the International Stabilization Force, a multinational peacekeeping force.

He argued, however, that the implementation of the plan “will not be a linear course. There will be ups and downs and ups and downs.” “But I think we have a lot of reason to be optimistic about the progress that is being made,” he added at a news conference at the building that houses the US-Israel Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel.

As Rubio said, there is a growing presence of personnel from the US State Department “and related agencies” at the center, which will “continue to be developed” to “provide staff in areas such as emergency response and humanitarian assistance coordination.”

To move forward with the next phases of the ceasefire plan, the center focuses on ensuring the success of the initial phase of the ceasefire, he said.

“We need to complete the process that we are currently involved in, which is ensuring that the ceasefire is kept undisturbed, ensuring that people get the necessary assistance they need in a way that is not looted, stolen or diverted in any way, and at the same time, creating the conditions for the [Διεθνής] Stabilization Force as soon as possible to provide the stabilization we need to move forward with the next phases of this plan,” he said.

“On the other side of that yellow line,” in areas of Gaza from which the IDF withdrew under the terms of the cease-fire, “there is still a terrorist group which remains armed and we have seen it take action against its own population” he pointed out referring to Hamas.

He urges “to give more press coverage to the fact that Hamas has abused the Palestinians, they have abused the people of Gaza in recent days. This is something that needs to be emphasized.”

Also, the US Secretary of State said that an international security force to be deployed in Gaza under the ceasefire agreement should consist of countries with which Israel ‘feels comfortable’. He said the future of governance in Gaza had yet to be decided between Israel and partner countries, but could not include Hamas, adding that any possible role for the Palestinian Authority has yet to be determined.

“There is no Plan B for Gaza, only Trump’s”

Rubio also argued that the US ceasefire plan has broad regional support and is “the best” and “only plan”.

Asked at a press conference whether Israel could resume the war against Hamas regardless of rearming or regrouping the organization, Rubio said: “I don’t think it has to do with permission or anything like that. This is basically about us all being committed to making this plan work. There is no plan B. This is the best plan. It’s the only plan. It’s one we believe can succeed. It’s one that we believe is on the way to success,” he said.

Responding to another question about Hamas disarmament, Rubio emphasized that “if Hamas refuses to demilitarize, that would be a violation of the agreement and that would have to be implemented. I’m not going to talk about the mechanisms by which it will be implemented, but it should be implemented.”

“This is an agreement and an agreement requires conditions to be met. Israel has kept its commitments. They stand on the yellow line and that depends on demilitarization.”

Rubio noted that disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza under the second phase of the deal “is a long-term project,” but added, “We want to help create the conditions here so that people in Gaza don’t have to be terrorized by Hamas and actually have lives, jobs, businesses, and a better future.”