Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the media on Thursday over its coverage of the war in Gaza, and explained how some of America’s allies are making peace “harder to achieve” by effectively ignoring the threat of Hamas.

“The World Over” host Raymond Arroyo asked Rubio during a lengthy interview about his thoughts on Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu likely wanting to “occupy Gaza” — a plan Netanyahu recently denied.

“It looks like Benjamin Netanyahu wants to occupy Gaza,” Arroyo said. “Is occupation of Gaza the right way to go right now? And what about the humanitarian crisis?”

“Ultimately, what Israel needs to do for Israel’s security will be determined by Israel,” Rubio responded. “I can tell you the way to break this out is there are three problems there at the same time.”

“Number one is the one that’s getting almost all the media coverage,” the Secretary of State continued. “This is the humanitarian problem that we’re seeing — no one wants to see that. And the United States stands prepared to contribute towards any real effort that will actually get food and medicine and life-sustaining aid to people on the ground in Gaza.”

The second, Rubio said, is the remaining Israeli hostages, who are getting very little coverage from the press.

“The second is that there are 20 innocent people being held hostage and starved inside of tunnels,” he said. “Unfortunately, there aren’t daily cameras down there covering that. So, you don’t see the mainstream media covering it. But there are 20 people that have done nothing wrong that are being held as hostage — and we saw the conditions that they’re living in the other day.”

As for the third issue, Rubio underscored the threat of Hamas.

“As long as Hamas exists, particularly exists as an armed organization, there will never be peace in Gaza,” he told Arroyo. “Hamas is not going to suddenly change and go into another line of work, their line of work, their reason for existing, is they want to destroy Israel. They want to drive every Jew out of the Middle East. That’s their goal. And as long as a group like that has weapons and the ability to fight, they’re a threat to peace.”

“We have to deal with all three of those elements, not just the humanitarian,” Rubio said. “That’s important, but the other two have to be dealt with as well. Not enough time, not enough attention is being paid to those two, [so] Hamas thinks they’re winning the global PR war. They’re not willing to make any concessions.”

Arroyo seemed to agree with Rubio, noting that some of America’s allies are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state. Rubio said gestures like that, which effectively ignore Hamas, hurt the likelihood of peace.

“Well, have you noticed the talks with Hamas fell apart on the day [French President Emmanuel] Macron made the unilateral decision that he’s going to recognize a Palestinian state? And then you have other people come forward, other countries say, ‘Well, if there’s not a ceasefire by September, we’re going to recognize a Palestinian state.'”

“Well, if I’m Hamas, I basically conclude, let’s not do a ceasefire, right? We can be rewarded and we can claim it as a victory,” Rubio explained. “So those messages, while largely symbolic in their minds, actually have made it harder to get peace and harder to achieve a deal with Hamas. They feel emboldened.”

Arroyo noted the Arab League pushing for the removal of Hamas. “I mean, clearly the Arab League says you got to get Hamas out of there,” he said. “They need to drop arms and move on.”

Rubio further said that recognizing a Palestinian state would be a reward for Hamas.

“They can’t define the borders or who’s going to run it,” Rubio said. “I mean, you can’t have a state or even an autonomous region unless you can identify who’s going to run it. And if it’s going to be run by Hamas, you’re going to be right back into war.”

“I think what’s important to remember here is that they’ve had opportunities to do this,” he continued. “You know, Israel turned over Gaza, turned it over completely with greenhouses and all kinds of things. And they elected Hamas. Hamas destroyed it, destroyed it all, took it, built tunnels instead of hospitals. That’s what they do.”

“At the end of the day, my problem with it is that I believe that these unilateral steps that have been taken by these governments — I know, has emboldened Hamas and made it harder to achieve peace.”

The interview with Rubio can be accessed here (relevant comments begin around the nine-minute mark).

The police union that represents over 3,000 officers with D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department came out in support of President Donald Trump’s decision to take federal control of law enforcement in the nation’s capital.

The D.C. Police Union said in a statement on Monday that it agrees with President Trump “that crime is spiraling out of control, and immediate action is necessary to restore public safety,” according to Fox 5. The union’s positive statement toward Trump was released as Democratic D.C. leaders criticized the administration’s move to take control of the police department.

“The DC Police Union, representing over 3,000 officers of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), today acknowledges and supports the President’s announcement this morning to assume temporary control of the MPD in response to the escalating crime crisis in Washington, DC,” the union said. “The Union agrees that crime is spiraling out of control, and immediate action is necessary to restore public safety. However, we emphasize that federal intervention must be a temporary measure, with the ultimate goal of empowering a fully staffed and supported MPD to protect our city effectively.”

Trump announced “Liberation Day in D.C.” on Monday morning, vowing to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse.” The president’s move means that the Metropolitan Police Department will fall under the control of the Department of Justice, and DEA Administrator Terry Cole will lead the D.C. police department, The Daily Wire previously reported.

Trump is also sending 800 National Guard troops to help patrol the streets of D.C. in a major effort to crack down on violent crime.

Democrats in D.C., including Mayor Muriel Bowser, blasted the president’s move as “unsettling and unprecedented.”

“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we’re totally surprised,” Bowser said.

The Democrat-controlled D.C. city council released a statement, calling Trump’s action “a manufactured intrusion on local authority.”

“Violent crime in the District is at the lowest rates we’ve seen in 30 years. Federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is unwarranted because there is no Federal emergency,” the city council added. “Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission.”

Bowser acknowledged that Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act allows Trump to federalize local law enforcement in D.C. and vowed to coordinate with the federal government.

The White House argues that federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department is necessary because local leaders have failed to crack down on violent crime, highlighting statistics that show D.C. has a higher murder rate than places like Havana, Cuba, and Islamabad, Pakistan. The Trump administration also pointed to a report alleging that police officials have “cooked the books” on crime stats to show the public lower violent crime numbers than what should be reported.

“In 2024, Washington, D.C. saw a homicide rate of 27.3 per 100,000 residents,” the White House said. “That was the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country — nearly six times higher than New York City and also higher than Atlanta, Chicago, and Compton.”