Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Tuesday said that the U.S. and Qatar were on the verge of finalizing a defense cooperation agreement as he framed the Middle Eastern ally as the "only country in the world" positioned to mediate between Israel and Hamas.The secretarys comments came as he was leaving Jerusalem, where he had met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting took place against the backdrop of Israels airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar last week, as well as its intensifying bombardment of Gaza City.Rubio, who is now heading to Qatar for a quick visit, acknowledged Dohas anger over the Israeli airstrikes, telling Fox News during an exclusive interview in Jerusalem: "We understand theyre not happy about what happened."Speaking to reporters, Rubio reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Qatar as an ally, saying Doha can play a "key role" in ensuring the terrorist group Hamas is "disarmed as a threat."EXCLUSIVE: RUBIO SAYS US-ISRAEL ALLIANCE REMAINS FIRM AS HE HEADS TO QATAR AMID BACKLASH OVER DOHA STRIKES"We think Qatar can play a very key role in that. So, were going there. We have a close partnership with the Qataris," Rubio said before adding, "In fact, we have an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, which weve been working on and were on the verge of finalizing."RUBIO SAYS ISRAEL STRIKE ON SYRIAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS LIKELY A MISUNDERSTANDINGRubio said that if any country in the world could mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas, "Qatar is the one.""Theyre the ones that can do it. Now, I dont know if they can after what happened, but I think they could. If anyone can, they can. Theres no other country in the world that can play that role. And we hope they can," Rubio said.The secretary warned that the window for diplomacy with Hamas was narrowing, saying, "We dont have months anymore We probably have days, maybe a few weeks.""So, its a key moment an important moment," Rubio said. "And again, our preference, our number one choice, is that this ends through a negotiated summit where Hamas says, Were going to demilitarize. Were no longer going to pose this threat. Were going to disband. Were going to release every single hostage."