"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about the current state of the Gaza peace talks - and said he 'wasn't going to get into' whether 'partial Hamas disarmament' would be acceptable- as he spoke with reporters in DC on Friday. "Is the US prepared to accept partial disarmament as sufficient," he was asked. "Yeah, I'm not going to get into the details of those types of negotiations," he replied. "It would have to be something, obviously, that they're willing to agree to, that our partners can push them and pressure them to agree to. It also has to be something that Israel agrees to. In order for that to work, both sides have to agree on it, and we need the space to do it. But that's the way to think about it, okay? You cannot have a Hamas that can threaten Israel in the future," he added. He also said that 'no-one wants a return to war' and that "you're not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two to three years." Talks were underway this week between US envoy Steve Witkoff and delegations from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Phase one was agreed in October between Israel and Hamas, covering the ceasefire, the return of hostages and prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Rubio was speaking at his end-of-year briefing with the media."