"This is the day that people in this region and around the world have worked, fought, hoped, and prayed for." These were the words of US President Donald Trump, speaking at the summit of Middle East peace negotiation mediators to sign the Gaza ceasefire agreement, signed this afternoon in Egypt.
The US - the main mediator -, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed the document, at an event attended by nearly three dozen world leaders from Europe and the Middle East: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel and Hamas were not represented at the summit. Trump said the document"sets a lot of rules" and is "very comprehensive," but did not elaborate on the details.
"With the historic agreement we just signed, the prayers of millions of people have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible. Finally, we have peace. It is the dawn of a new Middle East," the US President said. Also today, the Hamas group released the last 20 Israeli hostages. Palestinians are celebrating the arrival of approximately 250 prisoners freed by Israel, as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the beginning of the war, 22 minors, and the bodies of 360 military personnel.
With the war over, the US President says that now"reconstruction begins," referring to Gaza, which Israeli forces have left in ruins. The UN estimates that billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild the region, home to two million Palestinians.
For Trump,"rebuilding is perhaps the easy part," he said in his speech, adding that he advocates for Gaza to be"demilitarized." "I think we've already done much of the hard part, because the rest comes with it. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anyone in the world," he added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif devoted most of his speech to praising Trump, saying he would nominate him again for the Nobel Peace Prize, won by María Corina Machado.
Officials present are still discussing the future of Gaza, including issues such as persuading Hamas not to participate in the region's next government.
