The U.S. will not be following Europe’s lead when it comes to recognizing Palestine as a state.
In a recent interview with CBS, Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared recognizing Palestine as a state is not a realistic thing to do.
Rubio went further and questioned if the United States was to recognize it as a state then who would govern it, “Hamas?”.
The Hill provided further context to Rubio’s comments:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that an independent Palestinian state is “not even a realistic thing right now.”
ADVERTISEMENT“It’s not even possible. That’s not even a realistic thing right now,” Rubio said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Because who would govern that Palestinian state, Hamas?”
The Trump administration’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza includes a pathway to Palestinian statehood under the governance of a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA). Hamas is currently in control of Gaza, while the PA controls parts of the West Bank.
Last month, the governments of Canada, Australia, France and the United Kingdom formally recognized a Palestinian state, a symbolic gesture. Of the 193 United Nations countries, 157 recognize a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the measure, while President Trump said at the United Nations General Assembly last month that recognizing Palestinian statehood “rewards” Hamas.
Rubio said Sunday that a group of Palestinian “technocrats” would govern Gaza, but only after the remaining 48 Israeli hostages — 28 of whom are deceased, 20 of whom are alive — are returned.
On Friday, Hamas agreed to exchange the Israeli hostages for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza held by Israel, but it expressed uncertainty regarding other components of Trump’s peace deal, including its relinquishing power over the enclave.
Watch Rubio here:
RUBIO: “Until Gaza is governed by people that are not interested in destroying Israel, until there are no security threats emanating against Israel from Gaza, forget about statehood — you’re not going to have peace, so we have to create the conditions for that.” pic.twitter.com/WETA5yt3kM
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) October 5, 2025
BBC reported more on what it means to recognize the “Palestinian state”:
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.Palestine is a state that does and does not exist.
It has a large degree of international recognition, diplomatic missions abroad and teams that compete in sporting competitions, including the Olympics.
ADVERTISEMENTBut due to the Palestinians’ long-running dispute with Israel, it has no internationally agreed boundaries, no capital and no army. Due to Israel’s military occupation in the West Bank, the Palestinian authority, set up in the wake of peace agreements in the 1990s, is not in full control of its land or people. Gaza, where Israel is also the occupying power, is in the midst of a devastating war.
Given its status as a kind of quasi-state, recognition is inevitably somewhat symbolic. It will represent a strong moral and political statement but change little on the ground.
But the symbolism is strong. As the former UK foreign secretary David Lammy pointed out during a speech at the UN in July: “Britain bears a special burden of responsibility to support the two-state solution.”
