The U.S. State Department says Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head to Qatar after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The visit announced Monday comes as the region is still reeling from Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha. The U.S. has sought to ease tensions between Israel and Qatar, two close American allies.
Netanyahu and Rubio stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Jerusalem and downplayed the furor that had, at least for a short time, taken the Trump administration aback. There were no signs of U.S. frustration or annoyance with Israel’s latest moves, although President Donald Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s unilateral strike on Hamas in Qatar.
While speaking at a summit over Israel’s attack last week, Qatar’s ruling emir accused Israel of not caring about its hostages held in the Gaza Strip and instead only working to “ensure Gaza is no longer livable.”
Other news we’re following:
Charlie Kirk shooting investigation: Investigators are still piecing together information about the suspect, Tyler Robinson, and are not yet ready to discuss a potential motive. But Utah Gov. Spencer Cox noted that Robinson, who is not cooperating with law enforcement, disliked Kirk and may have been “radicalized” online.A framework deal on TikTok has been reached between the US and China: After the latest round of trade talks between the world’s top two economies concluded in Madrid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a news conference that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. He said the objective of the deal would be to switch to U.S. ownership.FBI director to face Congress: FBI Director Kash Patel will appear before Oversight committees Tuesday and Wednesday as he faces scrutiny over his leadership of the Charlie Kirk investigation and other areas. He raised eyebrows hours after Kirk’s killing when he posted on X that “the subject” in the killing was in custody when he in fact remained on the loose.