U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio met in Yerushalayim yesterday with the families of the two Israeli-American hostages whose remains Hamas has not yet transferred to Israel as required by the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
“We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,” tweeted Rubio, who is on a visit to the Jewish state.
“Today I met with the families of American citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned,” he vowed.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee could also be seen in a photo posted on X, sitting opposite Rubio.
On Friday, Rubio told reporters that there is no viable alternative to President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, expressing “healthy optimism” that it will be fully implemented.
“There is no Plan B,” Rubio said during what was termed “a press gaggle” at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat. “This is the best plan. It’s the only plan. It’s one that we think can succeed. It’s one that we believe is the way to success, as impossible and unimaginable as it may have been.”
He continued, “Remember a month ago, six weeks ago? No one would have thought it possible that you were going to get all the hostages out. And I know that we still have the remains of hostages [set to be returned]. That has to happen. That’s part of this. And we’re very committed to making sure that happens.”
Does that mean Rubio will never rest?
From what I understand, the remains of at least one remaining hostage are assumed to have been interred in a nondescript mass grave.
Digging up thousands of skeletons and doing DNA tests to identify them is a slow, tedious, and expensive process during peacetime when all involved are on board much less now in Gaza.