Sharm El Sheikh: The US and Egyptian presidents are chairing a gathering of world leaders dubbed “Summit for Peace” on Monday to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal.
Israel and Hamas have no direct contacts and were not expected to attend Monday’s summit. The Israeli prime minister’s office said Benjamin Netanyahu will not travel to the venue because of a Jewish holiday.
Israel has rejected any role in Gaza for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, whose leader, Mahmoud Abbas, arrived in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh early on Monday afternoon ahead of the gathering. The summit comes as Hamas released 20 remaining living Israeli hostages and Israel started to free hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons, crucial steps after a ceasefire began on Friday. But major questions remain unanswered over what happens next, raising the risk of sliding back into war — even as the world pushes for peace.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office said the summit aims to “end the war” in Gaza and “usher in a new page of peace and regional stability” in line with US President Donald Trump’s vision.
The two sides came under pressure from the United States, Arab countries and Turkey to agree on the ceasefire’s first phase, negotiated in Qatar.
In March, Egypt proposed a postwar plan for Gaza that would allow its 2.3 million people to remain. At the time, that was a counterproposal to a Trump plan to depopulate the territory. The two leaders co-chairing the international summit signal that they are working together on a path forward.
Ahead of the gathering, Egypt’s foreign minister said it was also crucial that Israel and Hamas fully implement the first phase of the deal so that the parties, with international backing, can begin negotiations on the second phase.
The success of Trump’s vision for Mideast peace is his continued commitment to the process, including applying pressure on the parties, engagement and “even deployment on the ground” with international forces expected to carry out peacekeeping duties in the next phase, said Egyptian Foreign Minister.