Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida who has been nominated by Donald J. Trump to be the next secretary of state, was greeted warmly by senators from both parties at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. He has served on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees for years, and is known as a lawmaker devoted to the details of foreign policy.

“I believe you have the skills and are well qualified to serve as secretary of state,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-Hampshire, in her opening remarks.

The noticeable lack of tension at the hearing indicated that Mr. Rubio would almost certainly be confirmed quickly.

Republican and Democratic senators agree on America’s biggest challenges.

It was clear from the lines of questions what the senators wanted Mr. Rubio and the Trump administration to focus on: China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Mr. Rubio personally pointed to those four powers — what some call “the shaft” — in his opening remarks.

They “sow chaos and instability and join and fund radical terrorist groups, then hide behind their veto power at the United Nations and the threat of nuclear war,” he said. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia have the right to veto UN resolutions.

Mr. Rubio has repeatedly singled out the Chinese Communist Party for criticism and, unlike Mr. Trump, has not praised any of the autocrats who run those nations.

He said the administration’s official policy toward Ukraine will be to try to end the war started by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, and that leaders in both Kiev and Moscow will have to make concessions. U.S. officials say Russia has dragged its allies and partners into the war, relying on North Korea for troops and weapons, Iran for weapons and training, and China to rebuild Russia’s military industrial base.

Rubio’s position on Israel and Gaza is firmly within the foreign policy consensus in Washington.

Mr. Rubio defended Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war, blaming Hamas for using civilians as human shields and calling the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, most of them noncombatants, “one of the terrible things about war.”

He expressed concern about threats to Israel’s security. “You cannot co-exist with armed elements on your border who seek your destruction and gutting as a country. You just can’t,” he said.

When asked if he believes that the Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory would be contrary to peace and security in the Middle East, Mr. Rubio did not give a direct answer, calling it “a very complex question.”

Mr. Rubio’s hearing had lasted about two hours when the committee chairman made the announcement Israel and Hamas signed an agreement begin a temporary ceasefire and partial release of hostages in Gaza. An initial agreement on hostages and a ceasefire, reached in November 2023, fell apart after a week.

Rubio supports America’s alliances, despite Trump’s persistent attacks on them.

Mr. Rubio called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized, “a very important alliance” and insisted that Mr. Trump supporter of NATO. But he also backed Mr Trump’s argument that a strong NATO requires Europe to spend more money on its collective defence.

The United States, he said, must decide whether to serve a “primary defense role or a protector” to a self-reliant Europe.

Although he has been praised by many of his Senate colleagues, Rubio has his detractors.

Some prominent Trump supporters still distrust Mr. Ruby. They recall his vote to certify the results of the 2020 election despite Mr. Trump’s false claims of election fraud. And they believe that the foreign policy file of Mr. Rubia dangerously interventionist.

Mr. Rubio has long been a hawkish voice on national security issues, often in ways that contradict Mr. Trump, even if the ideas are conventional among centrist Republican and Democratic politicians.

In the past, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, criticized Mr. Rubia for advocating aggressive American intervention abroad. Mr. Paul has been outspoken in advocating for fewer U.S. troops abroad and is skeptical that economic sanctions can lead to positive outcomes.

On Wednesday, Mr. Paul sharply asked Mr. Rubia sees no way to cooperate with China instead of continuing to attack Beijing, and he also questioned the wisdom of many American and European policymakers who have insisted that Ukraine must be admitted to NATO.