ANKARA

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made his first official stop in Israel on Sunday at the Western Wall (Al-Buraq Wall) of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

Rubio was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee during his visit to the flashpoint site, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said.

The three officials prayed at the wall and placed notes between its bricks, a local tradition, while their wives prayed in a separate section for women, The Times of Israel news outlet reported.

They later toured the Western Wall tunnels located beneath the Old City’s Muslim Quarter.

Known to Jews as the “Western or Wailing Wall,” Al-Buraq Wall is the western portion of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, which for Muslims represents the world’s third holiest site. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Rubio’s talks in Israel are expected to discuss the fallout from an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas leadership in Doha, killing five group members.

The attack came as Hamas was discussing a US proposal to end the Israeli war on Gaza, where nearly 65,000 people have been killed since October 2023.