Rubio says Qatar strike ‘not going to change’ US-Israel ties

The United States is “not happy” about Israel’s airstrikes targeting Hamas in Qatar, but the attack will not change Washington’s allied status with Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday as he departed for the region.

“Obviously, we were not happy about it, the president was not happy about it,” he told reporters shortly before departing Washington for discussions with officials in Israel.

“It’s not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis, but we are going to have to talk about it — primarily, what impact does this have” on the diplomatic efforts to bring about a truce in war-ravaged Gaza, Rubio added.