Donald Trump and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, are due to chair a Gaza peace summit with several world leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday.
The meeting would take place on Monday afternoon in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh “with the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries”, the Egyptian presidency said.
It will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he would attend, as will Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sánchez of Spain. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also attend, broadcaster NTV reported. European Council president Antonio Costa will also be among those in attendance.
RM Block
There was no immediate word about whether Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu would be in Sharm el-Sheikh. Hamas has said it will not take part.
On Saturday, three Qatari diplomats were killed in a car crash at the Red Sea resort, two security sources told Reuters. Two diplomats were also wounded, the security sources said.
The summit was arranged after Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire and prisoner-swap deal after intense indirect negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh in recent days. More than 67,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza. The war began after a Hamas-led incursion into Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
The negotiations, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and involving the US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, precipitated the truce and subsequent increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The announcement came as thousands of Palestinians journeyed along the north of Gaza on Saturday, trekking by foot, car and cart back to what was left of their homes.
“It is an indescribable feeling; praise be to God,” Nabila Basa told Reuters, as she travelled by foot with her daughter, who she said had suffered a head wound in the war. “We are very, very happy that the war has stopped, and the suffering has ended.”
For many in Gaza, there is no home to return to, as the war has reduced their neighbourhoods to dust after two years of heavy bombardment.
“My house, which I built 40 years ago, was gone in a moment,” said Ahmed al-Jabari, as he stood in the wreckage of a Gaza City street. “I’m happy that there is no blood, no killing [but] where will we go? Will we live 20 years in a tent?” – Guardian, Reuters and AFP
