US President Donald Trump unveiled plans to attend a summit of regional and world leaders to discuss the future of Gaza in Egypt.
Trump will travel to Egypt on Monday to participate in a signing ceremony of a peace agreement that halted the fighting in Gaza and paved the way for releasing Israeli hostages. Before that, the US President will also travel to Israel to give a speech in front of the Knesset.
Trump’s Visit to Egypt
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump confirmed his visit to Egypt and Israel during a one-day trip to the region to herald a ceasefire agreement to end the war between Hamas and Israel, according to Bloomberg.
The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who mediated the deal alongside the US, Qatar and Türkiye, extended an invitation to Trump to attend the Gaza agreement official signing ceremony in Egypt. He reiterated his invitation during a meeting on Thursday with Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Cairo.
The US President had suggested earlier that he might visit the Middle East to mark the implementation of the agreement.
Gaza Summit
Trump said that he would meet in Cairo with “a lot of leaders from all over the world,” who would be gathering in Egypt for the deal’s signing ceremony.
Axios first reported about the summit, citing four sources with knowledge. According to these sources, Al-Sisi is organizing the summit and has sent invitations to several European and Arab leaders.
They include leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia. However, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not expected to attend.
The summit aims to mobilize additional international support for Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, as more negotiations will take place regarding postwar governance, security and reconstruction.
Knesset Speech
Before arriving in Egypt, Trump will make a stop in Israel, where he is expected to deliver a speech before the Knesset and meet with the families of the hostages.
“I’ll be going to Israel. I’ll be speaking at the Knesset, I think early on, and then I’m also going to Egypt. They were terrific,” he told reporters at the Oval Office.
Trump will depart the US on Sunday evening, spend Monday in the Middle East and then return to Washington to attend a ceremony to award Charlie Kirk on Tuesday night.
Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
After days of negotiations in Egypt’s Sharm Al-Sheikh, Hamas and Israel has agreed to Trump’s peace plan, which aims to end the war in Gaza and release the remaining Israeli hostages.
The first phase of the plan involves a ceasefire and Israeli military withdrawal to agreed-upon lines. Within 72 hours of military redeployment, Hamas will hand over all the hostages, alive and deceased, to Israeli security forces.
In return, Israel will release 250 Palestinian convicted or suspected of security crimes, in addition to 1,700 adults and 22 minors detained in Gaza during the war, and the bodies of 360 fighters.
Moreover, humanitarian aid flow to the Strip will increase, with 600 trucks allowed to enter Gaza daily and move freely between the enclave’s north and south, two Israeli officials told Reuters.
The Israeli military said it had completed the withdrawal by noon on Friday, starting the 72-hour window for Hamas to release remaining hostages.
Trump expressed optimism about the ceasefire agreement. “I think it will hold. They’re all tired of the fighting,” the US President said.
