Israel flattens dozens of buildings in Gaza as Rubio arrives in Jerusalem

Israeli forces flattened dozens of buildings in Gaza City on Sunday as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel for talks on the war.

Israel has for weeks conducted an intense bombing campaign across the city, levelling several of its suburbs and destroying high-rises ahead of an attempt to occupy the city.

It plans to forcibly displace the city's one million residents to the south of the enclave before launching a ground invasion, with the military saying on Saturday that 250,000 people had fled since it began carpet-bombing the city last month. 

Palestinian officials told Reuters that Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in the enclave's largest city on Sunday.

Israeli forces have razed large parts of the territory's infrastructure to the ground since beginning their onslaught on Gaza on 7 October 2023.

Rafah, large parts of Khan Younis, and several of Gaza City's suburbs have been almost entirely destroyed.

Hamas said that at least 1,600 residential buildings and 13,000 tents have been destroyed since 11 August.

The Israeli military has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians since 7 October 2023, while thousands more are thought to be buried beneath the rubble.

Hundreds of thousands of people are facing starvation due to Israel's blockade with a UN-backed food monitor in August declaring famine across the entire strip.

At least 422 people have died as a result of malnutrition over the past 23 months, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Rubio to discuss West Bank annexation, Qatar strike with Netanyahu

Rubio is expected to discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recent threats by the Israeli government to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, as well as last week's strikes in Qatar.

The US diplomat visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem with Netanyahu after his arrival on Sunday. On Monday, he will attend the inauguration of a controversial archaeological project beneath the Haram al-Sharif and tour the settler-operated City of David archaeological site.                    

Ministers in the far-right Israeli government have in recent weeks drawn up plans to seize more than 80% of the territory in response to the planned recognition of a Palestinian state by several Western countries this month.

The Israeli leader reportedly has not made a decision about whether to ahead with the plans and wants to discuss with Rubio whether he would have the backing of the Trump administration, US outlet Axios reported last week.

Several Trump officials, including Israel ambassador Mike Huckabee, have been vocally supportive of annexation. Rubio was said last month to have backed the decision during closed-door meetings with Israeli officials.

President Trump has not declared an official position on the matter.

Backing West Bank annexation would put at risk the so-called Abraham Accords, Trump's landmark foreign policy win during his first term in office, and likely bury his ambitions of expanding them to other countries in the region.

The UAE earlier this month warned that annexation would be a "red line" and undermine the 2020 normalisation pact.

The threat comes as several of Israel's key Western allies prepare to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly next week. France, the UK, Canada, Australia and Belgium are among the countries expected to formally recognise Palestine at the annual gathering.

Rubio's visit to Israel comes as Arab and Islamic leaders gather in Qatar to discuss how to respond to Israel's unprecedented airstrikes in Doha last week.

Qatar is trying to rally the Arab world to take collective action against Israel in response to the attack, which targeted the Hamas leadership in a suburb of the Qatari capital.