U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states in mid-February, a State Department official said, making his first trip to the Middle East after a widely condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to the Middle East next week after backlash against President Trump's plan for the U.S. to "take over" and rebuild Gaza. Israel's government is preparing to move Palestinians out of the territory,

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first visit to the Middle East this month, a senior State Department official said Thursday, in the wake of President Donald Trump's remarks on relocating Gaza's population.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza — widely condemned by international officials as incitement to commit human rights violations — is actually “very generous” toward Palestinians.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning to visit the Middle East in mid-February, two Israeli officials and two source with knowledge told Axios. Why it matters: It would be Rubio's first trip to the region since he assumed office and come amid the uproar President Trump's "Gaza takeover" plan created in the Middle East.

Gaza US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit the Middle East next week, a State Department official said, after President Donald Trump upended US policy on the region with a proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza.