Rubio: There’s a Cease-Fire When Hamas Ceases to Exist

Rubio: There’s a Cease-Fire When Hamas Ceases to Exist (Washington Free Beacon)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) condemned Hamas attacks on Israel during an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity, saying, “I’ll tell you when there’s a cease-fire–when Hamas ceases to exist, when they lay down their weapons.”

“In the absence of that,” Rubio continued, “Israel has no choice but to do everything it can to dismantle Hamas.”

“We should treat our friends as friends, and we have no stronger ally, probably anywhere in the world, but certainly in the Middle East, than Israel,” said Rubio. “And we should link arms with them and understand what they’re going through right now, and in no way create any daylight between us.”

Rubio expressed concern about the United States funding the Palestinian Authority, since “Once they linked up with Hamas, now basically you are giving that money to a unity government which Hamas plays a role in. And that’s the reason we shouldn’t continue to do that.”

Rubio placed “100%” of the blame for civilian deaths in Gaza with Hamas.