The summit saw the signing of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the genocidal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and boost efforts toward lasting peace in the Middle East.
Ahram Online provided a Live Update of the events of a historic day.
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20:10 US President Donald Trump called the signing of the agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the two-year-old war in Gaza a "tremendous day for the world" and a "tremendous day for the Middle East."
"This took 3,000 years to get to this point. Can you believe it? And it's going to hold up too. It's going to hold up," Trump said in closing remarks after the signing.
“I thought this was probably going to be the toughest, and maybe in many ways it was, but we had a lot of big talent,” the US president said.
The signing of the ceasefire agreement was witnessed by leaders and representatives of Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, France, Cyprus, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Greece, Armenia, Hungary, Pakistan, Canada, Norway, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the Netherlands, Paraguay, and India, as well as the UN Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the President of the European Council, the President of FIFA.
20:00 "Let the Gaza war be the last war in the Middle East," Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said in closing remarks after he co-signed a historic document with US President Trump, Turkish President Erdoğan, and Qatar's Emir Tamim, to end the two-year-old Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.
During his address, El-Sisi thanked Egypt’s partners—the United States, Türkiye, and Qatar—for their “sincere efforts” in reaching the agreement, reaffirming Cairo’s commitment to supporting and monitoring its implementation.
The Egyptian President spoke shortly after signing a historic joint document in Sharm El-Sheikh with Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to end the war in Gaza officially.
El-Sisi said he hoped the agreement would pave the way toward a “political path” leading to a two-state solution; “the only way,” he said, to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples to end the conflict and live in security.
“You have proven that true leadership lies not in waging wars, but in having the ability to end them,” El-Sisi told Trump. “We are confident in your leadership to implement the current agreement and carry out your plan in all its phases.”
During his speech, the President described the current moment as a “historic turning point."
He said the deal represents “a new dawn of hope” that could close a painful chapter in human history and open the door to a new era of peace and stability in the Middle East, offering a better tomorrow for the region’s war-weary nations.
“Today, we welcome courageous, peace-loving leadership whose efforts have helped end conflict and bring security and development not only to our region but to the entire world,” El-Sisi said.
He recalled Egypt’s historic role in launching the Middle East peace process nearly half a Century ago, when the late President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat made his groundbreaking visit to Jerusalem in November 1977; a bold step that “gave future generations a chance for life” and proved that true security cannot be achieved by military power alone.
El-Sisi reaffirmed that peace remains Egypt’s and the Arab and Islamic nations’ strategic choice, stressing that “this choice can only be built on justice and equality in rights.”
From that perspective, he said, the Palestinian people have the same right as all others to self-determination, freedom, and a future free from war; “to live in their own independent state side by side with Israel, in peace, security, and mutual recognition.”
“Peace is not created by governments alone,” he continued, “but built by peoples when they realize that the enemies of yesterday can become the partners of tomorrow.”
19:20 Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, US President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed a historic document on Monday in Sharm El-Sheikh to end the Gaza war.
18:50 President Trump welcomes regional and world leaders who are attending the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit to sign the Agreement to End the War in Gaza.
The US President and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi co-chair the summit.
US President Donald Trump greets French President Emmanuel Macron during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh. AFP
18:30 US President Donald Trump said that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi "has done a fantastic job to stop the war in Gaza."
This came in statements to the press before the bilateral meeting between Presidents El-Sisi and Trump, attended by Egyptian and US officials, ahead of the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit to sign the Agreement to End the War in Gaza, which the two leaders will chair.
President Trump added that Hamas's respect for the leadership of the Egyptian President was instrumental in reaching a ceasefire deal.
For his part, the Egyptian leader said, “I am happy to welcome US President Trump to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt and extend, on behalf of the Egyptian people and all peace lovers, on his unprecedented achievement of ending this war.”
“I was confident that you are the only one who can stop the war in Gaza,” the Egyptian President told President Trump.
“I have stressed in my communications with your excellency that you are the only one who can bring about peace in the Middle East.”
“We now need to cement the ceasefire, return the hostages to Israel, and bring the humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,' noted El-Sisi.
“I invite the US President to take part in the conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip,” concluded the Egyptian leader.
US President Donald Trump meets with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh. AFP
17:40 Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has received US President Donald Trump at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport to co-chair the historic Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, which will sign the Agreement to end the War in Gaza on Monday.
US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One upon his arrival at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Sharm el-Sheikh. AFP
17:30 President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi participated on Monday in a high-level meeting about the reconstruction of Gaza with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the presidents of France and Turkey, the Emir of Qatar, the German chancellor, and the prime ministers of Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada, along with the Saudi foreign minister, the Egyptian Presidency announced.
16:30 President El-Sisi has welcomed regional and world leaders as they arrived in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to attend the historic Gaza peace summit.
The leaders whom the Egyptian President welcomed included Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The leaders will witness the signing of the Agreement to End the War in Gaza in the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit.
15:19 Trump’s speech at the Knesset has concluded after lasting more than an hour, causing a delay in his schedule. As a result, he is now running late for the Egyptian peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, where an official signing ceremony for the first phase of his Gaza plan is scheduled.
The US president joked that Netanyahu’s “very long speech” had thrown off his timing. “You’ve kept me quite late,” Trump said. “
I thought I was going to run up here, make a speech and then head to Egypt. It didn’t work out.” He added that he would be meeting with “the most powerful nations” at the summit. “I’ll be quite late; they may not be there by the time I get there,” he quipped.
15:02 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons returned to Gaza and the West Bank, where they were warmly welcomed by family and friends, marking a significant moment of mixed joy and sorrow, as Israel began releasing more than 1,900 prisoners and captives as part of the ceasefire deal.
Shortly before departure from Israeli prisons, the occupation security forces used tear gas against those waiting near Ofer prison, including journalists. The Israeli occupation army has warned Palestinians that any celebrations for those being released are strictly prohibited.
Freed Palestinians were taken to separate destinations; some were welcomed home in Ramallah, others in Gaza, while dozens were expelled from the Palestinian territories.
The director of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office told Al Jazeera that more than 150 released Palestinian prisoners will be deported to other countries.
However, he added that the end of the Israeli assault on Gaza is a “great day” and one that will see a number of prisoners who have been held in prisons for decades released.
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14:31 “They expelled me from the session simply because I raised the most basic demand, a demand supported by the entire international community: to recognize the State of Palestine,” Israeli MP Ayman Odeh wrote on his X account, after being removed from the Knesset during Trump’s speech.
“To recognize this simple reality: there are two peoples here, and neither of them is going anywhere,” he added.
Odeh also shared a photo of the sign he held during the session, which read: Recognise Palestine.
14:08 Trump is now addressing the Knesset, becoming the fourth American President to do so.
He said, "This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East."
"This is not only the end of a war," he added. "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."
Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change, and change very much for the better," Trump further said.
Trump asked Netanyahu to stand, and told the audience that “he’s not the easiest guy to deal with.”
Trump’s speech was briefly interrupted by a heckler when a left-wing Israeli Knesset member began shouting during the address and was promptly removed from the chamber.
MKs Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif were ejected from the Knesset during the speech as MKs shouted "terrorist." Odeh was holding up a sign protesting Trump, reading "genocide."
Security officials remove a Knesset member who interrupted Trump's speech to Israel's parliament, shouting "genocide". AP
Trump said Israel "has won all that can be won by force of arms." "As you mentioned, Bibi before, peace through strength."
The American President acknowledged the US's full support to Israel during the genocidal war, saying "we have a lot of weapons, and we've given a lot of them to Israel frankly...Bibi would call me sometimes, can you get me this weapon that weapon, some of them I had never even heard of," Trump said.
He addressed Netanyahu, saying the Gaza war "was getting bad. Bibi, you will be remembered for this more than if you'd kept it going, kill, kill, kill."
Speaking of the Palestinians for the first time, he said, "Now, at last, not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others. The long and painful nightmare is finally over."
He then said my "personality is all about stopping wars." He added that it would be great to make a peace deal with Iran.
"I think they want to, I think they're tired ... They want to survive. The last thing they want to do is start digging holes again in mountains that just got blown up."
Let's focus on Russia first ... we'll get it done," he added.
13:53 Death toll from Israeli genocidal war on Gaza reached 67,869, the health ministry said in a statement. Most of the people killed have been women and children.
Another 170,105 have been injured in Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023.
The ministry added that the bodies of 63 Palestinians, including 60 recovered from rubble, arrived in hospitals across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours. It said 39 people had been injured.
A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, as ambulance and civil defence teams are unable to reach them so far.
13:31 Speaking alongside the US President, Netanyahu praised Trump’s role in securing the release of all Israeli detainees held in Gaza, prompting loud applause from lawmakers in the Knesset.
“President Trump, the Knesset welcomes you and your distinguished delegates on your first visit to Israel since you recognized Jerusalem as our capital and moved the US embassy here,” Netanyahu said.
“There are many other reasons to thank you,” he added, before listing what he described as Trump’s ongoing support for Israel’s security and sovereignty.
Netanyahu went on to call Trump “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Trump was met with a standing ovation from those in attendance as he entered the chamber.
"The last two years have been a time of war. The coming years will hopefully be a time for peace," Netanyahu said as his army killed and wounded nearly 240,000 Palestinians in the year-long genocidal war on Gaza.
13:25 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has just arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh.
13:15 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reversed his earlier decision and announced he will not attend the high-level meeting.
Earlier, Egypt's presidential spokesperson said Netanyahu would take part in the meeting following a phone call with both Netanyahu and Trump during his visit to Israel.
"He would not be able to attend due to relegious holiday," Egypt's Presidency and Netanyahu's office said in two separate statements.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu was invited by US President Trump to participate in a conference taking place today in Egypt. The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his invitation but said that he would not be able to attend," Netanyahu's office said.
12:40 The first of 38 buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons has crossed into Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Information Office.
Another bus carrying 88 freed Palestinians arrived in the West Bank.
12:10 Egypt's presidential spokesperson said Netanyahu would attend the summit. El-Sisi received a phone call from US President Donald Trump during his visit to Israel, during which the Israeli Prime Minister also spoke with the President, the spokesperson added.
"Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take part in the peace summit to solidify the agreement to end the war in Gaza and reaffirm their commitment to it," the spokesperson said.
12:06 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend the Gaza summit in Egypt, the Israeli public broadcaster said.
It added that Netanyahu spoke with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and decided to travel to Sharm El-Sheikh. There was no official confirmation yet from Egypt's side.
11:49 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Trump’s plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict focuses mainly on Gaza and lacks sufficient detail regarding Palestinian statehood.
“We have noted that Donald Trump’s peace plan addresses only the Gaza Strip. It mentions statehood, but in rather general terms,” Lavrov told reporters from Arab countries.
“It is imperative to clarify these approaches, including outlining what will happen in the West Bank.”
This is Moscow’s most explicit statement on Trump's plan. However, Lavrov also expressed hope that all agreements reached between Israel and Hamas under the plan would be implemented.
Photo by Ahram Online.
11:21 Buses carrying the Palestinian detainees who have been released from Israeli prisons have begun moving out of Ofer Prison in the West Bank.
Those kidnapped from Gaza during the war will be returned there. Some of the 250 convicted Palestinians will return home to East Jerusalem or the West Bank or Gaza, while a majority will be sent to Gaza or into exile abroad.
Palestinians gathered in the morning at viewpoints on the hills overlooking Ofer Prison, from which some of the detainees and prisoners are expected to be freed, eagerly awaiting their friends and relatives.
An armoured Israeli vehicle drove up the hill from the prison and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at one side of the hill. As drones buzzed overhead, the crowd scattered. The tear gas followed the circulation of a flier warning that anyone celebrating or supporting what it claimed as “terrorist organizations” risked arrest.
“You have been warned,” read the flier, which AP obtained on site.
In neighbourhoods where prisoners’ families live, Israeli forces distributed fliers warning that “anyone who participates in such activities exposes himself to punishment and arrest,” the official said. The Associated Press reviewed a copy of the flier.
11:13 Hamas handed over all 20 living Israeli captives to Red Cross representatives in Gaza, Israel's public broadcaster reported.
The group was released in two batches, with a second group of 13 captives transferred in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the broadcaster said.
Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, stand guard ahead of the arrival of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) vehicles in southern Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, before the handover of the second group of Israeli captives. AFP
11:01 Aid workers have started distributing hot meals and bread in north and south Gaza, and deliveries of cooking gas have entered the enclave, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said.
The "humanitarian scale-up in Gaza is well underway," Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, wrote on X.
Aid groups had secured Israeli approval to send in more aid, bringing the amount in their cleared pipeline to 190,000 metric tons, including food, shelter items, medicine and other supplies, he added.
"This is just beginning," Fletcher said. "As part of our plan for first 60 days of ceasefire, UN and our partners will expand scale and scope of our operations to get life-saving aid and services to people everywhere across Gaza."
"We are determined to deliver. Thank you to everyone involved."
Israel has used food as a "weapon of war" in Gaza, where the United Nations on Friday officially declared a man-made famine.
10:58 Trump arrives at Israeli parliament for speech.
US President Donald Trump (top L) reacts as he receives a standing ovation before speaking at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem. AFP
10:46 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
Upon his arrival in Egypt, Macron called for establishing an international legal framework for the international force in Gaza, which he, along with other world leaders, proposed to be deployed to the Palestinian Strip.
Al-Qahera News TV reported that Macron noted that France is coordinating with the US regarding Gaza's future, while stressing that the Palestinian Authority must be granted a role in governing the strip.
The following leaders are also attending:
- Jordan’s King Abdullah II
- Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani
- Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
- Turkish President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
- Indonesia’s President: Prabowo Subianto
- French President: Emmanuel Macron
- Azerbaijan’s President: Ilham Aliyev
- Spanish Prime Minister: Pedro Sánchez
- Norway’s Prime Minister: Jonas Gahr Store
- Kuwait’s Prime Minister: Ahmad Al Abdullah Al Sabah
- Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs: Faysal Bin Farhan
- Iraq’s Prime Minister: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
- Pakistan’s Prime Minister: Shehbaz Sharif
- UK’s Prime Minister: Keir Starmer
- UN Secretary-General: António Guterres
- European Council President: Antonio Costa
- Arab League secretary-general: Ahmed Aboul Gheit
- Canada’s Prime Minister: Mark Carney
- Greek Prime Minister: Kyriakos Mitsotakis
- Armenian Prime Minister: Nikol Pashinyan
- German Chancellor: Friedrich Merz
- Italian Prime Minister: Giorgia Meloni
- Hungary’s Prime Minister: Viktor Orbán
10:41 The European Union will restart on Wednesday a civilian mission to monitor the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in support of a ceasefire deal, the bloc's top diplomat said.
"The EU stands ready to do its part," Kaja Kallas posted on X.
"This mission can play an important role in supporting the ceasefire," she said.
A Red Cross convoy is on its way to pick up a second group of Israelis to be released from Gaza, the Israeli occupation army said in a statement.
09:49 Donald Trump has arrived in Israel to address parliament, before he is scheduled to travel to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh for the summit.
09:10 The first seven Israelis to be released on Monday were making their way back to Israel from the Gaza Strip, accompanied by members of the Israeli army and Shin Bet, the internal security agency, according to Israeli sources.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is facilitating the exchange between Hamas and Israel in northern Gaza, confirmed that a multi-phase operation to release detainees on both sides had begun as part of the ceasefire agreement.
09:05 A total of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons are expected to be released to the West Bank, Jerusalem and abroad, Reuters said.
The news agency also reports that 1,716 Palestinians from Gaza who Israel has detained are expected to be released at Gaza’s Nasser hospital on Monday, Reuters also quoted an official as saying.
All 1,966 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released have now boarded buses.
Israeli authorities have banned Palestinians in the occupied territories from celebrating the release of their relatives who had been held in Israeli prisons. As part of this crackdown, Israeli occupation forces deployed drones to drop leaflets over several areas, including near Ofer Prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, where Palestinian detainees were scheduled to be released.
The leaflets, written in Arabic, warned residents against any public expression of support.
"We are watching you everywhere. If you express any support for or affiliation with a terrorist organization, you will expose yourself to arrest and severe penalties. You have been warned," they read.
Palestinians look at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, awaiting the release of Palestinian captives as part of a swap for Israelis held in Gaza. AP
A Palestinian boy displays a leaflet dropped by an Israeli drone near Ofer Prison, where Palestinian detainees are set to be released, in the West Bank city of Beitunia. AP
09:00 President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has decided to award the Nile Collar to US President Donald Trump, in recognition of his "distinguished contributions to supporting peace efforts, defusing conflicts, and most recently, his pivotal role in ending the war in Gaza."
The Nile Collar (Kiladat al-Nil), Egypt’s highest state honour, is a gold Collar, adorned with Pharaonic motifs, rubies, and turquoise stones, symbolizing the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt through the life-giving Nile River.
Traditionally awarded by presidential decree, it is reserved for heads of state, national leaders, and eminent figures whose actions have rendered invaluable service to Egypt or humanity.
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