Donald Trump and Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi are set to co-chair a Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, with leaders from more than 20 countries expected to attend. The Egyptian presidency announced the meeting, which will aim to end the war in the Gaza Strip and promote wider stability in the Middle East.
Confirmed participants include UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron. There has been no confirmation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attendance, while Hamas has stated it will not take part in the summit.
The gathering follows a ceasefire and prisoner-swap deal agreed between Israel and Hamas after indirect negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, with involvement from US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The conflict began after a Hamas-led incursion into Israel killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, while more than 67,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza.
As the truce holds, thousands of Palestinians are making their way back to northern Gaza on foot, by car, and by cart. Nabila Basa, travelling with her daughter, said: "We are very, very happy that the war has stopped, and the suffering has ended." Ahmed al-Jabari, standing amid the wreckage of a Gaza City street, said: "My house, which I built 40 years ago, was gone in a moment... where will we go? Will we live 20 years in a tent?"
The summit announcement came as three Qatari diplomats were killed in a car crash at the Red Sea resort on Saturday, with two others wounded, according to security sources. The Egyptian presidency said the summit would aim to "usher in a new era of regional security and stability."
