NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte remained cautious at the news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The ceasefire comes from a U.S. proposal that the two groups stop the violence between them that began 13 months ago. For 60 days, everyone will commit to peace as Israel withdraws its forces from Lebanon. Rutte encouraged world leaders to “not be naive” about the deal on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Wednesday with host Brian Kilmeade.
“Well, obviously, Brian, I welcome it, but let’s not be naive,” Rutte said. “Hezbollah is still there. Iran is still backing Hezbollah. So it’s good that it is there, but now it has to be implemented, and let’s see what happens, whether they will keep to the deal — the Hezbollah people.”
Rutte pointed to the Russian weapons found in Hezbollah tunnels as proof that every international conflict is “interconnected.”
“So this means that we are really facing a global conflict, and this is posing a threat not only to us and Europe, but also to the Americans and, of course, Japan and South Korea because Russia is paying for it,” Rutte said. “For example, missile technology and these missiles can then reach the American mainlands, and that’s a real risk we have to be very much aware of this.”
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President Joe Biden said Israel reserves its right to defend itself should Hezbollah break its agreement. As it is Iran’s proxy force, the ceasefire is stirring up rumors that it could lead to another agreement with Hamas, another Iranian-backed terrorist group, which attacked Israel the day before Hezbollah forces did.
Hamas exchanged some of its hostages last year for Palestinians who are in Israeli prisons and allegedly committed crimes during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023. Hamas abruptly ended the agreed-upon pause early by launching missiles at Israel. That was under the leadership of Yahya Sinwar, who died in the conflict last month.