US Secretary of State Marco Rubio detailed ongoing security incidents in Gaza that underscore the fragility of the ceasefire, citing specific examples of Hamas attacks against Israeli forces during his year-end press conference.
“We also have had instances, for example, over the last couple weeks where Hamas elements emerged from a tunnel, attached an explosive device to the side of a vehicle and injured and almost killed Israeli soldiers,” Rubio stated, highlighting the continued threat from the militant group.
The Secretary emphasized that maintaining peace requires constant vigilance and effort. “We we still have this threat,” he said, acknowledging the challenges facing ceasefire implementation.
Rubio described ongoing Hamas activities that complicate peace efforts. “We still have and see every single day Hamas openly taking steps to strengthen themselves with inside of those places in Gaza that they still control,” he explained.
He also referenced early ceasefire violations. “We saw early on the atrocities they were committing in the streets against people as they were trying to show people how strong they were,” Rubio said.
The Secretary framed these challenges within the broader context of peacemaking. “This is not easy. Peace is a verb. It’s not an action. It’s not a sentiment. Every single day will bring challenges. Every single day,” he stated.
Rubio explained the intensive monitoring required to manage the ceasefire. “It’s one of the reasons why we have stood up this center there in operating in Israel in partnership as well with another cell that exists in a regional country,” he said.
He detailed the coordination efforts: “Every single day there are meetings among both intelligence, diplomatic and military officials of multiple countries that help bring about this deal to manage this.”
The Secretary acknowledged the difficulty of the initial agreement while emphasizing ongoing work. “This was first of all it was a miracle that it happened in the first place. We all understand how difficult it was for that to come to the conclusion that it did where the actual the bombing and everything else with the scale and scope of what we saw ended,” Rubio said.
Despite the challenges, he noted partial success. “All the hostages were released and we have relative peace right now for the most part despite the things you’re pointing to. That was very difficult,” he stated.
Rubio concluded by emphasizing the day-to-day nature of peace implementation: “I don’t think I’m standing here to tell you this is going to be easy. This is an hour-by-hour day-by-day challenge.”
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