US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey sign declaration as guarantors of Gaza peace deal
by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ieLAST UPDATE | 5 hrs ago
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners.
Trump made a lightning visit to Israel, where he lauded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to parliament, before flying to Egypt for a Gaza summit where he and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed the declaration as guarantors to the Gaza deal.
“This is a tremendous day for the world, it’s a tremendous day for the Middle East,” Trump said as more than two dozen world leaders sat down to talk in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
He later declared that the assembled world leaders had “achieved what everybody said was impossible”.
“At long last, we have peace in the Middle East,” Trump said in a speech.
According to the document, the signatories pledged to “pursue a comprehensive vision of peace, security and shared prosperity in the region”, and also welcomed “the progress achieved in establishing comprehensive and durable peace arrangements in the Gaza Strip”.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the Gaza deal “closes a painful chapter in human history” and sets the stage for a two-state solution.
He also said his country would host a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Egypt will work with the United States in coordination with partners in the coming days to lay the foundation for the reconstruction of the (Gaza) Strip, and we intend to host an early recovery, reconstruction and development conference,” he said.
As part of Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, Hamas freed the last 20 surviving hostages it held after two years of captivity in Gaza.
In exchange, Israel released 1,968 mostly Palestinian prisoners held in its jails, its prison service said.
“For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace,” Trump said earlier in the day during his address to Israel’s parliament, where he received a lengthy standing ovation.
“Not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over.”
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Sticking points
Trump’s visit to the Middle East aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal – but much remains to be negotiated.
Among the potential sticking points are Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge full withdrawal from the devastated territory.
The US leader, however, repeatedly signalled he was confident the ceasefire will hold, saying at a joint appearance with Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh that talks on the next steps of the plan had already “started, as far as we’re concerned”.
Trump announced in late September a 20-point plan for Gaza, which helped bring about the ceasefire.
He briefly met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at the summit, which representatives of Israel and Hamas did not attend, and departed in the evening.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it is a “very good sign” that Abbas was in attendance.
“It’s a recognition of the role the Palestinian Authority has to play as a legitimate entity,” he said.
“On the questions of governance, we will have a particular role to be by the side of the Palestinian Authority and to ensure it plays its part, and also that it conducts reforms for the day after,” Macron said of France.
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said he would not be in attendance because it coincides with the Jewish holiday of Simhat Torah, which begins this evening and continues until sunset tomorrow.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem today urged Trump and the mediators of the Gaza deal to “continue monitoring Israel’s conduct and to ensure it does not resume its aggression against our people”.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged Trump to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, after the US president brokered a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the (Middle East) to work with us on the Russian government,” Merz said in Egypt.