President Donald Trump joined more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday for talks on Gaza’s future with the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement underway.
Among those gathered for the summit were Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and former prime minister Tony Blair, as well as officials from Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
The group posed for a family picture in front a sign that read “Peace 2025” before a signing ceremony related to the ceasefire agreement.
Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with world leaders seated behind them, formally signed the document that Trump said would “spell out a lot of rules and regulations and lots of other things.”
“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 the middle of signing the document. The exact content of the document was not clear and the White House has not yet been made publicly available.
Trump also delivered remarks in which touted the breakthrough as a turning point for the region.
“This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping, and praying for. They have done things over the last month that I think were really unthinkable. Nobody thought this could happen. With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered,” Trump said.
Noticeably absent from the signing ceremony and talks in Egypt, though, were representatives of Hamas and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cited the Jewish holiday as the reason for his absence, despite him having been directly invited by President Trump.
Just hours before, Trump and Netanyahu heaped praise on one another as Trump addressed Israel’s parliament. Trump hailed Netanyahu as “one of the greatest” wartime leaders and Netanyahu called Trump Israel’s “greatest friend” ever in the White House.
At the Knesset, Trump also declared a “new dawn in the Middle East” and said the war was Gaza over — despite challenges ahead in ensuring a lasting peace.
Hamas released the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages on Monday and Israel freed Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement, with emotional scenes playing out in Tel Aviv and Gaza as families reunited.
But many questions remain about what comes next, including to what extent President Trump will be personally involved in shaping a post-war Gaza.
Trump said the second phase of his proposed peace plan is in progress, though didn’t provide much detail.
“Well, it started. I mean, it started as far as we’re concerned,” Trump said as he sat with el-Sisi upon his arrival in Sharm El-Sheikh. “Phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza it needs a lot of clean-up.”
In his speech later before world leaders, Trump added: “Now, the rebuilding begins. The rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part. I think we’ve done a lot of the hardest part because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anybody in the world.”
The U.S. president also appeared to set his sights next on Iran, urging the country to use this opportunity to work with the administration on a peace deal.
“We are ready when you are and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made, and it’s going to happen,” Trump said during his speech at the Knesset.
Trump reiterated that point as he took reporter questions alongside Egypt’s president.
“I think Iran will come along. They’ve been battered and bruised. You know, they need some help. They have big sanctions, as you know, tremendous sanctions. I’d love to take the sanctions off when they’re ready to talk,” Trump said.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
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