WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel next week in a show of support for the country before the UN meets for what is expected to be a contentious debate on the creation of a Palestinian state, the State Department said Friday.

Despite tensions between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, notably over Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, Rubio will arrive in Israel on Sunday for a two-day visit. He is expected to travel to a controversial archeological site in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim for the capital of an eventual state.

Rubio will be meeting on Friday with the prime minister of Qatar, whose nation along with many others in the Arab world has condemned Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in the Qatari ca

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