US Secretary of State Rubio says countries recognising a Palestinian state is 'not real'

State Secretary Marco Rubio said on Thursday in Quito, Ecuador, that there will be a response from Israel for countries recognising a Palestinian state.

"We told all these countries if they do this recognition stuff, it's all fake, it's not real," Rubio said. "There's gonna be a response from Israel, you're going to make it harder to get a ceasefire."

He added that the focus should be on eliminating Hamas instead of recognising Palestine. "That being said, we don't like the humanitarian suffering. We've offered a lot of aid, provided a lot of aid, and are prepared to provide aid now and when the war ends, along with other countries around the world."

Rubio said Israel's annexation of the West Bank was not a done deal yet: "That's something that's being discussed among some elements of Israeli politics."

He said annexation was "wholly predictable, and we told all these countries that if they went through with this thing, there's not gonna be a Palestinian state".