Marco Rubio confident first phase of Gaza ceasefire will be completed soon

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday expressed confidence the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire will be completed “very soon” and said he hoped an international peacekeeping force would be assembled in the near future.

In a news conference lasting more than two hours, Mr Rubio also said the disarmament of Hamas is “critical” for an enduring peace in Gaza and said talks between Lebanese authorities and Israel could create “a way forward” that prevents further conflict between them.

“This is something we're aiming at very soon, it has to. It's what we're focused on right now, like a laser,” Mr Rubio said of the formation of the International Stabilisation Force in Gaza.

The force was outlined in President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, and would be focused on keeping the peace in the enclave after Israeli troops withdraw.

“I feel very confident that we have a number of nation states acceptable to all sides of this who are willing to step forward and be a part of that stabilisation force,” Mr Rubio told reporters. He added that Pakistan would be a “key” addition to the plan, “but we owe them a few more answers before we can ask anybody to firmly commit”.

He expressed confidence the first phase of the Gaza peace plan would be completed and pointed to progress in the creation of a non-partisan committee of technocrats to run postwar Gaza.

​Mr Trump's special ‌envoy ​Steve Witkoff was scheduled to meet ‍officials from Qatar, ‍Egypt and ⁠Turkey in Miami on Friday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire.

A major sticking point before the next phase of the ceasefire can commence is the extent to which Hamas lays down its arms. Under the peace plan, Israel is meant to withdraw its troops from Gaza, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007.

Mr Rubio said that the next step in the plan, which was initiated with the ceasefire in October, will be creating the so-called Board of Peace, to be chaired by Mr Trump, and setting up the “Palestinian technocratic group”.

“And then once that’s in place, I think that will allow us to firm up the stabilisation force, including how it’s going to be paid for, what the rules of engagement are, what their role will be in demilitarisation and so forth,” he said.

Mr Rubio would not be drawn on how much Hamas needs to disarm, following reports it is ready to lay down some weapons under certain conditions.

“You're not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two, three years,” he said.

“I would just ask everyone to focus on what are the kind of weapon capabilities that Hamas would need in order to threaten or attack Israel as