NATO chief thanks Türkiye, US, Egypt, Qatar for role in Gaza ceasefire

ISTANBUL

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday thanked Türkiye, the US, Egypt and Qatar for their efforts in securing a ceasefire in Gaza, calling it “an enormous step.”

Responding to a question from Mevlut Cavusoglu, head of the Turkish delegation and a lawmaker from Türkiye’s AK Party, at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Slovenia, Rutte noted Ankara’s role in brokering the truce that took effect Friday.

“I want to thank you. And through you, Türkiye, but also of course the US, Egypt and Qatar, for the fact that the ceasefire is now taking place,” he said.

“I know that (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and his team have been working very hard on this together with the US, Egypt and Qatar. The fact that this is now happening is an enormous step — one that hopefully inspires us in Europe and with the US to do everything to also end the war in Ukraine,” he added.

Rutte also noted that NATO must tread carefully when addressing the war in Gaza, as members hold differing views on the issue.

“In NATO, there are various perspectives when it comes to the situation in the Middle East, particularly regarding Israel and Gaza,” he said.

“NATO’s focus is on the Euro-Atlantic area, so it’s a bit outside our territory. But of course, we are closely following developments, especially because of their impact on our mission in Iraq — where Türkiye plays a big role — helping Iraqis build their own security and defense forces,” Rutte said.

Trump announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip. The first phase of the deal came into force on Friday.

Phase two of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza, without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a multinational force, and the disarmament of Hamas.

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