AMY GOODMAN: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel today as the Trump administration piles pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal. A parade of top Trump officials held meetings with Netanyahu in Israel all week, starting with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, then Vice President JD Vance.

Just before broadcast, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a news conference at Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, a newly opened international central command, surrounded by military troops, on what is his latest visit to oversee the implementation of the Gaza deal. Despite Israel’s repeated ceasefire violations, Rubio praised the truce, saying, quote, “A lot of good progress is being made on a number of fronts,” referring to Trump’s 20-point so-called peace plan for Gaza.

When asked whether UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, will be involved in humanitarian efforts in Gaza, Rubio responded, “No,” and referred to the agency as a “subsidiary of Hamas.” Rubio’s remarks came after a ruling by the International Court of Justice this week saying Israel has not, quote, “substantiated its allegations that a significant part of UNRWA’s employees are members of Hamas,” unquote.

Rubio was also questioned about escalating Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, including against U.S. citizens. This is Rubio responding.

REPORTER: There’s been a series of settler attacks against a village full of American citizens in the West Bank called Turmus Aya. I was just wondering if you had seen any of the videos of these attacks.

SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: I’m aware of the incidents, and I’ve seen — I mean, not recently. I’ve seen them, some of the ones that have been posted, some of the things on social media. Our embassy has worked on that topic and has expressed the U.S. opinion to the government. Obviously, the safety and security of Americans anywhere in the world is something that will be important to us. So, now, we’ve — we’ve expressed our position directly to the Israelis.

AMY GOODMAN: As the Israeli Knesset Thursday voted to annex the occupied West Bank, in his news conference in Kiryat Gat, Rubio called the move, quote, “a threat to the peace process.”

President Trump has also rejected Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, saying in a recent interview with Time magazine, “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened,” Trump said. He spoke on Thursday,

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The West Bank is — don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank, OK? Don’t worry about it. Is that your question? They’re not going to do anything with the West Bank. Don’t worry about it. Israel’s doing very well. They’re not going to do anything with it.

AMY GOODMAN: Trump’s remarks came as Vice President JD Vance said he’s personally insulted by the annexation vote, which came during his visit to Israel.

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: It was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.

AMY GOODMAN: This all comes as the United Nations is urging Israel to open the Rafah crossing to allow urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. Over 40 aid groups, including Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council, have published an open letter accusing Israel of arbitrarily rejecting aid deliveries into Gaza.

In a minute, we’ll be joined by Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who’s just returned from a trip to the occupied West Bank. This is a clip of his visit.

JAN EGELAND: This is the Ras Ein al-Auja Bedouin community here on the West Bank. It’s in Area C. Israel has control in this area. But the Bedouins have been here now for more than 50 years. This settlement, which is an outpost in the distance behind us, that’s new.

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Amman, Jordan, to speak with Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Jan, thanks so much for being with us. If you can start off by talking about that trip you just took, two-day visit to the West Bank, which you say is, quote, “being intentionally and brutally carved up”? Explain, as people focus on Gaza, what’s happening in the West Bank.

JAN EGELAND: No, indeed. I mean, I was there three years ago, the last time. I’ve been there now for more than 30 years altogether. And I was shocked to see how many new illegal settlements are strategically put on all hilltops in large parts of the countryside in the West Bank, at the same time as the thugs, the violent settler gangs from these settlements, attack every single day Palestinian rural communities, very vulnerable Bedouin communities, torch their houses, torch their mosque, their school, steal their livestock and divert their water. So, you see how the place is annexed and the occupation deepens — because this is occupied land — every single day now. And it’s changing as we speak.

After the 7th of October two years ago, when Hamas did this atrocities, horrific atrocities in Israel, I think the settler movement felt they had a free hand to do whatever they wanted on the West Bank, and it happened in the shadows of the war in Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: And what do you make of the vote in the Knesset around the annexation of the West Bank? You just heard Vice President Vance saying he took it as a personal insult, and Trump saying it’s not going to happen. But it happened. The vote happened.

JAN EGELAND: Yeah, it did happen. And, of course, ministers in the Israeli Cabinet are very outspoken on their ambition to annex formally the West Bank. And we’re very glad that President Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary Rubio all say it will not happen, there will be no formal annexation of the occupied land on the West Bank.

In reality, a lot of things are happening on the ground. I mean, every single day, Palestinian houses are demolished. Every single day, the communities are attacked. Every single day, people are beaten up, thousands of olive trees are uprooted. I mean, it’s happening as we speak. And I would encourage, really, U.S. and European and other decision-makers to take a tour with us and see what’s happening in the West Bank, because the injustice is just enormous.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to the U.N. humanitarian affairs office saying it’s documented 71 attacks on the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property in just one week. Among the victims is a 55-year-old woman who was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage after she was beaten unconscious by a masked Israeli settler wielding a club.

AFAF ABU ALIA: [translated] We were picking olives. Then a vehicle passed by. It kept on going by. Then a woman started screaming, “Settlers!” And we didn’t see them. They were hiding between the olive trees. She told me, “Settlers! Settlers!” Then, me, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and my son ran away from the area. …

I was looking around, and I saw around 20 settlers. And they started beating me on my head. I fell to the ground, and I couldn’t feel anything. They continued beating me. I didn’t see anyone. And then two people came and carried me.

AMY GOODMAN: Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who filmed Sunday’s violence against Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Turmus Aya, compared the Israeli settlers’ attack to a lynch mob. Jasper Nathaniel and a group of Palestinians were then chased by a swarm of Israeli settlers carrying stones and clubs. Jasper Nathaniel is a U.S. citizen. Also with him, a Palestinian man, Yasser, get into a car as settlers then try to smash the back window.

JASPER NATHANIEL: Press! Press! American press! American press! Press!

They’re literally right behind us. He’s right here. He’s about to smash our window. There he is. Here he is. Get ready. There it is. Are the doors locked?

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Jasper Nathaniel, the American journalist. Jan Egeland, if you can respond? I mean, so far this year, there were over 750 Israeli settler attacks, which is a 13% increase over last year. What are you calling for now at the Norwegian Refugee Council?

JAN EGELAND: We’re calling for international law to be exerted on the West Bank. I mean, the occupation has to be lifted. It has now been there in place since 1967. I would urge the Western governments and NATO countries, who are so outspoken — rightly — against the Russian occupation of Ukraine. We support Ukrainian war against the occupier. Why is this tolerated when it happens on Palestinian land? It is occupation. So there has to be action.

We’re humanitarian workers on the ground. We’re there every day trying to defend these people, but we’re unarmed. We cannot really fight these settler mafias, that are well, well armed and who work without — with impunity.

Every time I met the — I met these people who had these hair-raising stories, the Palestinians, I ask them, “But why don’t you go to the Israeli occupation forces, to the police, to the army, Israeli army?” And they say, “We do that all the time. And they laugh at us, or they take down the report, and then they come back and say, 'We investigated, and we found there to be no stealing of 1,000 sheep'” — which is now clearly in the hands of the settlers. And then, if you come with false accusation, you will be imprisoned. So they feel there is impunity for the settlers. And that’s one of the things I think the allies of Israel should be able to change.

AMY GOODMAN: And I wanted to end with the last question to Marco Rubio today in his press conference in southern Israel. He was asked about the video of attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and also the attacks and killings of Palestinian Americans. He said, “We’ve expressed our position to the Israeli authorities. We care about Americans everywhere.” So, let’s turn to this father of a 16-year-old American, Palestinian American, Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, demanding the U.S. government free his son from an Israeli prison.

ZAHER IBRAHIM: Anybody that’s in the U.S. government, their duty is to bring home any American citizen. And you know Israel’s prison is one of the worst prisons in the world — weight loss, scabies. They only get 10 minutes a day outside, so the rest are in the cell, crowded cell. A cell that fits eight people, they have 16 in there, so…

From day one, they said, “We’re working on it.” And, you know, then you go to one month, two months, three months. We’re at eight months. He missed about half of last year’s school. He’s missing this year of school. There’s no progress, you know. So, I think the U.S. government, either do something or admit you can’t do nothing.

AMY GOODMAN: So, final question about the number of Palestinians who are imprisoned right now. This, an American father appealing for his American son, who just turned 16 in Israeli prison, to be released — in an Israeli prison. Your response, Jan Egeland?

JAN EGELAND: Well, I would say that these are people in the thousands that have been under — in detention, with no law, no sentences, no trial, for a very long time. This is administrative detention very often, and some liken it to hostage taking. They should be released, really, or put before a trial of law and then to be proven to be criminals; if not, release them.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much for being with us, Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, just returned from a two-day visit to the occupied West Bank.

Next up, we look at the growing fissures within the Republican Party with a former Republican political operative. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: Sweet Honey in the Rock performing “Down by the Riverside” years ago in our firehouse studio.