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.

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.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and key Arab nations from February 13-18, marking his first Middle East trip since President Donald Trumps controversial proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio late on Tuesday appeared to back President Donald Trump's plan for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, saying the Palestinian enclave must be free from Islamist group Hamas.

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,

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.