Mark Rubio snubs Egypt, Qatar and Jordan

Tel-Aviv (QJ) – The U.S. Secretary of State’s six-day visit to the Middle East, which began in Israel, will be followed by meetings with leaders of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Absent from this trip are key allies and influential players that the previous U.S. administration frequently visited during the Gaza war.

There is no planned stop in Qatar, a crucial regional power that has been central to ceasefire negotiations.

Additionally, no visits are scheduled to Jordan or Egypt, both key U.S. allies that rejected the Trump administration’s pressure to support a Gaza resettlement plan for Palestinians, a move widely condemned as ethnic cleansing.

Accompanying the Secretary of State on this trip is Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, whom the Biden administration once favored as the preferred choice to take over Gaza’s administration.