Israel Intensifies Gaza City Strikes as Rubio Heads to Qatar

(Bloomberg) — Israel intensified strikes on Gaza City overnight as US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat warned Hamas there was a “very short window” for negotiations to end the war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left Israel on Tuesday morning for Qatar, where he said he would try to encourage the Gulf state’s leaders to re-engage in mediation talks between Israel and Hamas. Qatar was outraged by an Israeli missile strike on its capital, Doha, a week ago that targeted Hamas officials in a residential area.

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“We want them to know how much we appreciate and respect all the time and effort they’ve put in with these negotiations,” Rubio said to reporters in Tel Aviv before flying to Qatar, a key ally of the US and home to the largest American military base in the Middle East. “And we hope they’ll re-engage despite everything that’s happened. We know they’re upset about it.”

Shortly after the comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military had begun an intensive operation in Gaza City, signaling a new phase of the offensive has started. Israel’s Army Radio reported that Israeli forces planned to encircle the city within days.

Israel started preparations for an offensive on the city, home to roughly one million people and the de facto capital of Gaza, about a month ago and has carried out aerial attacks and incursions on the outskirts of the area since then. In recent days, Israeli forces have leveled dozens of high-rise buildings. Troops have yet to enter the heart of the northern city.

Israel’s told civilians to leave. The Israel Defense Forces says around 40% of inhabitants have fled so far and is urging the rest to do so too.

Several world governments — including in Europe and the Arab world — are calling on Israel to halt its plans, saying the offensive will lead to more suffering for Palestinian civilians. Many have been displaced several times already during the war and say there’s nowhere safe or with enough shelter and food for them to flee.

More than 64,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war started, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, and a United Nations body has declared a famine in parts of the strip.

Rubio arrived in Israel on Sunday and Netanyahu said the trip, which included them praying at the Western Wall together, proved how strong US-Israeli relations were.