President Trump was expected to join a summit of more than 20 world leaders at an “International Peace Summit” in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday, a conference that has been billed as an effort to end the war in Gaza.
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was expected to attend, as part of an effort by regional leaders to push for the authority’s involvement in stabilizing Gaza.
The Egyptian government said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would be joining. But in a statement, Mr. Netanyahu said he could not accept an invitation to attend by President Trump because of the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which would begin that evening.
Mr. Abbas and Mr. Netanyahu have rarely met in recent years as the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians stalled.
President Trump was scheduled to arrive at the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh after a short visit to Israel in the morning. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, announced that he would chair the summit along with Mr. Trump.
Hamas was not expected to participate in the summit.
Egypt said it also expected that the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan would attend. Both countries helped broker the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Friday morning. The United States and Egypt also played critical roles in the negotiations.
The cease-fire, and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners that got underway Monday morning, were the initial steps of a proposal to end the war put forward by Mr. Trump in September. The next phases of any agreement between Israel and Hamas would include thornier issues that the two sides have yet to agree on, including a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and whether Hamas would agree to lay down its weapons.
Still, in Sharm el-Sheikh, the roads leading to the city’s conference center, where the summit will be held, were lined with banners celebrating an “agreement to end the war in Gaza.” A plaque outside the center hailed the seaside town as the “City of Peace,” a reference to its role in previous peace talks, including a 2005 summit that ended the Palestinian uprising known as the second intifada.
Egypt hopes to revive that legacy with a summit that Mr. el-Sisi’s office said, “aims to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability.”
It remained far from clear whether such a brief gathering could make serious progress toward a final deal to end the war. But diplomats have privately said that regional leaders expect talks on the sidelines of the event could be critical to shaping the direction of an eventual agreement.
The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, and Pakistan were expected to join the conference, among others. The secretary general of the United Nations, the president of the European Council and the head of the Arab League were also expected to attend.
Isabel Kershner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
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