US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front against their common enemies, threatening to "open the gates of hell" to Hamas and "finish the job" against Iran.

The pledges sounded during a joint news conference in Jerusalem, where Rubio began his first Middle East trip as secretary of state in President Donald Trump's new administration.

"Hamas cannot continue to exist as a military or government force, they must be eliminated," Rubio said of the Palestinian Islamist group, which fought Israel in Gaza for more than 15 months until a fragile cease-fire took effect on Jan. 19.

Standing next to Rubio, Netanyahu said the two allies had a "common strategy" and that "the gates of hell will be opened" if all hostages still held by militants in Gaza were not released, AFP reported.

The comments came a day after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners. It was the sixth such exchange under the ceasefire agreement, which the US helped broker along with Qatar and Egypt.

Netanyahu's comment echoed Trump's words before the February 15 swap. The US president said that if the hostages were not released on 15 February, "all hell would break loose" and that he would call for the ceasefire agreement to be annulled.

Israel and Hamas exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire.

Adding to the tensions in the deal was Trump's widely condemned proposal to take control of Gaza and relocate its more than 2 million residents.

"We discussed Trump's bold vision for Gaza's future and we will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality," Netanyahu said.

The scheme, which Trump outlined earlier this month during Netanyahu's visit to Washington, lacked details, but he indicated it would involve moving Gazans to Jordan or Egypt.

Trump explained that Palestinians were "living miserably" in Gaza, and suggested that the coastal territory be redeveloped into the "Riviera of the Middle East." | BGNES