Rubio and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Saturday, US official says

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, a U.S. official said, without providing additional details.

While the American official did not mention the topics discussed in the call, Axios reported earlier that the two of them spoke about Gaza, Syria and the protests in Iran.

Iran, which had a 12-day war with Israel last year and whose nuclear facilities were bombed by the U.S. in June, is seeing its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.

In Gaza, a fragile ceasefire has not progressed beyond its first phase since it began in October, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of major breaches of the deal. The two sides remain far apart on the more difficult steps envisaged for the next phase.

Earlier this week, Israel and Syria agreed during U.S.-mediated talks in Paris to set up a communication mechanism to coordinate on security and commercial issues.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Netanyahu has visited the United States five times to meet the Republican president while Trump visited Israel in October.