US President Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza’s future.
The summit at Sharm el-Sheikh comes hours after Israel and Hamas swapped captives and Palestinian prisoners.
The Gaza summit will be co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
According to the Egyptian presidency, the summit’s aim is “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 summit has an impressive guest list, many of whom have played a vital role in securing the ceasefire and hostage release deal that is currently in place.
More than a dozen world leaders are in attendance, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi said earlier that neither he nor Iran’s President would accept an invitation to the summit because they could not “engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian People,” in reference to the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities earlier this year.
Although Israel and Hamas said they would not participate, Cairo has hailed the summit as a “historic” event that will seek “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Egypt said a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” is also expected to be signed at the summit.
Trump arrived in Egypt after his visit to Israel to celebrate the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
In an address at Israel’s Knesset, Trump hailed an end to a “painful nightmare” after two years of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“From 7 October until this week, Israel has been a nation at war, enduring burdens that only a proud and faithful people could withstand.
“For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace … The long and painful nightmare is finally over.”
Donald Trump
Trump also declared that the ceasefire agreement marks the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as the end of the “age of terror and death.”
“This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of the age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.
“It’s the start of a grand concord and lasting harmony for Israel, and all the nations of what will soon be a truly magnificent region. I believe that, so strongly. This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
Summit Deemed “Significant Element” In Ensuring Gaza Ceasefire
Stephen Zunes, Head of the Middle East programme at the University of San Francisco, opined that the summit in Egypt is a “significant” element in making sure that the ceasefire deal holds.
“There’s seriousness in pressing ahead to make sure the ceasefire is indeed permanent this time.
“It may be a sign that, unlike the January agreement, which Netanyahu broke off two months later, with apparent support from Washington, it will be harder for him to do so this time around.”
Stephen Zunes
However, Zeidon Alkinani, a Middle Eastern politics Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar said Trump’s “victory lap” today in the region may well be premature.
Alkinani told a news agency that “one peace treaty or one peace summit” was not enough to guarantee the US President’s boast of bringing security to the entire region. “We need to see what will happen in the future,” he added, noting that Israel has broken foreign-brokered ceasefires in the past.
The Political Analyst also said that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestine must be addressed in a “much more dramatic and established way.”
