Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend an international summit in Egypt on Monday alongside Donald Trump and other world leaders to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, his office has said.
He was invited by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is leading the event in Sharm el-Sheikh alongside Trump.
Leaders from more than 20 countries are expected to attend, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Trump’s plan for ending the war in Gaza has left open the possibility of a role for Abbas’s Palestinian Authority (PA) after it carries out reforms, though Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected its involvement.
The PA is a governing body that has control of parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is run by Fatah, a rival to Hamas. Abbas is also in charge of the PLO – the umbrella organisation which represents Palestinians at international fora.
Last month, Abbas, 89, was barred from travelling to New York to appear in person at the UN General Assembly when he and 80 other Palestinian officials had their visas revoked by the US State Department.
Speaking via video at the assembly, he said he was ready to work with world leaders to implement a peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians. He also reiterated his rejection of a future governing role for Hamas in Gaza and demanded that it disarm.
The first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan was agreed to by Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, and a ceasefire came into effect on Friday.
It will see the expected exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners on Monday.
Negotiations are then expected to follow over the details of the latter phases, which include the governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal and the disarmament of Hamas.
Both Israel and Hamas have confirmed officials will not attend the summit in Egypt.
Sisi’s office said Monday’s international gathering aimed “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”.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said a “document ending the war in the Gaza Strip” was expected to be signed.
Other world leaders confirmed to be attending are French President Emmanuel Macron, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also attend.
Meanwhile, former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair, who is expected to be part of a “Board of Peace” supervising Gaza’s governance under Trump’s peace plan, met the PA’s Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh on Sunday.
Al-Sheikh said he had “confirmed our readiness to work with President Trump, Mr Blair” and other partners to secure the entry of aid and the release of hostages and prisoners, before starting on “recovery and reconstruction”.
“We stressed the importance of stopping the undermining of the Palestinian Authority, and especially the return of the withheld Palestinian revenues and preventing the undermining of the two-state solution in preparation for a comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with international legitimacy”, he added in a post on X.
Israel’s war on Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 18,000 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
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