Rubio, who arrived in Qatar after visiting Israel, said Doha was the only country capable of mediating an end to the conflict. His visit came a week after Israeli airstrikes in the Qatari capital killed senior Hamas leaders, an attack widely condemned across the region.

En route to Doha, Rubio urged Qatar to maintain its role as mediator despite what he called the “cowardly and treacherous” Israeli strike. “If there’s any country in the world that could help end this through negotiation, it’s Qatar,” he said. But he warned that Israel’s intensified bombardment meant “we probably have days and maybe a few weeks” to strike a deal.

Rubio later met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss the war in Gaza, regional security, and an expanded US-Qatar defence cooperation agreement. Qatar’s foreign ministry said the talks covered the Israeli attack on Doha and reiterated the country’s determination to defend its sovereignty.

The trip highlighted tensions within US diplomacy. While in Israel, Rubio embraced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and repeated Washington’s stance that Hamas must “cease to exist.” But hours later, President Donald Trump publicly warned Netanyahu against further attacks on Qatar, saying in the Oval Office that the Israeli leader “won’t be doing that again.”

Gulf states, meanwhile, pledged to activate a joint defence pact during an emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, denouncing Israel’s actions and voicing solidarity with Qatar.