World leaders will land in Sharm El Sheikh over the coming hours ahead of an international summit to finalize the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The summit will take place tomorrow with the aim of ending the war in Gaza and setting the stage for a new era of regional security and stability.
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A star-studded line up: The summit will be attended by over 20 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Indonesia will also be in attendance, Axios reports.
The summit will be the final step after days of negotiations, which ended with Israel and Hamas reaching an agreement to establish a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi described Thursday’s ceasefire and hostage agreement as a “historic moment,” which not only closes “the chapter of war, but also opens the door of hope for the peoples of the region,” according to an Ittihadiya statement. The agreement in Sharm El Sheikh covers the first phase of a larger agreement, which will see a ceasefire, the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian hostages.
El Sisi told Trump that he deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the agreement, according to a separate Ittihadiya statement. The call between the two heads of states also saw El Sisi stress the need to implement all of the agreement’s phases and the importance that Trump will play in making this happen.
El Sisi also met US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner in person, where they thanked each other for their roles played in the agreement, with El Sisi reiterating Egypt’s intention to make sure the agreement is implemented in full with “sincerity and responsibility.”
The need to follow through on all stages of the agreement was also emphasized by El Sisi in a call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, along with the need to reach a consensus on the following phases of the agreement to come, according to an Ittihadiya statement. Guterres also argued for the deployment of international forces in Gaza, the need to immediately begin reconstruction efforts, and the need for Egypt to continue playing an important role in providing humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Meanwhile, tragedy strikes ahead of the summit: Three Qatari diplomats were killed and two others were injured in a car crash in Sharm El Sheikh, Reuters reports. It remains unclear whether the diplomats were part of Qatar’s negotiating team that helped broker the ceasefire agreement last week.