Israel-Hamas ceasefire: After hostage release, what will be discussed at Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt?

Egypt is set to host the Gaza peace summit today (13 October).

The leaders of nearly two dozen countries will be in attendance at the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where representatives of Hamas and Israel had engaged in indirect peace talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

The development comes as Hamas has handed over the hostages it captured during the 7 October 2023 attacks as part of a ceasefire deal pushed by US President Donald Trump. Israel, too, is set to release hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons.

The US President, meanwhile, landed in Israel where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump, accompanied by Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka Trump and Steve Witkoff, will address Israel’s parliament today.

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But what do we know about the peace summit? Which world leaders will be in attendance? What can we expect?

Let’s take a closer look.

What we know

The meeting will be co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Trump. It will occur after Trump has addressed the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) and met the families of the hostages. Leaders of twenty countries will be in attendance at Sharm el-Sheikh.

The office of President El-Sisi has said the summit will take place “with the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries”. It will aim “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”. This is in line with Trump’s vision, it added.

It said a "document ending the war in the Gaza Strip" will likely be signed. The next stages of the ceasefire as part of Trump’s 20-point plan and the situation in West Asia are set to be discussed. The governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, and the disarming of Hamas will likely be on the agenda.

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Modi declines invite, sends MEA MoS

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the leaders of the countries who received an invitation from Trump and El-Sisi via Egyptian Ambassador Kamel Galali, he will not be able to attend the peace summit. India has said neither Modi nor External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar would be able to travel to Egypt on short notice.

However, Kirti V Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, will be representing India at the summit. Modi will meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty later this week when he travels to India to hold the strategic dialogue between the two nations.

Which leaders will attend

France’s President Emmanuel Macron is among the leaders set to attend the peace meeting. He will “express his full support for the implementation of the agreement”, according to the Élysée Palace.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced a donation of $27 million to help water and sanitation for Gaza, will also be present. He also said Britain will host a three-day conference to coordinate plans for Gaza’s reconstruction and recovery. Downing Street has said Starmer will pay “particular tribute” to Trump and thank Egypt, Qatar and Turkey for “bringing us to this point”.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, European Union President António Costa and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have also said they will be at Sharm el-Sheikh. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be attending the summit. The nation, which hosted Hamas political leaders for years, was part of the negotiators who helped deliver the ceasefire.

King Abdullah of Jordan is among the expected attendees. His country, alongside Egypt, will train the new Palestinian security force. Representatives from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also expected. Germany, one of Israel’s strongest international backers and top suppliers of military equipment, will be represented by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He has expressed concern over Israel’s conduct of the war and its plan for a military takeover of Gaza. He plans on co-hosting the reconstruction of Gaza conference with Egypt.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was invited by El-Sisi, will attend the summit. While Trump has said the Palestinian Authority (PA) – which runs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank – could play a role in Gaza, PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh on Sunday met with Tony Blair, who is expected to be part of the ‘Board of Peace’ floated by Trump.

Al-Sheikh said he “confirmed our readiness to work with Trump, Blair” and others when it comes to allowing aid to enter Gaza and the hostage exchange and release of prisoners. “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.

However, the PA, which is run by Hamas rival Fatah, and Abbas himself are increasingly unpopular with the Palestinian people.

Representatives from Pakistan, Indonesia, Spain, Japan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, El Salvador, Cyprus, Greece, Bahrain, Kuwait and Canada will also be present.

Israel, Hamas, Iran absent

Interestingly, no one from Israel or Hamas – the two main parties to the peace deal who engaged in indirect talks via negotiators – will attend the peace summit. Both sides, even as the peace deal was being negotiated, remain suspicious of each other.

Hamas had wanted a firm commitment over a timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and a guarantee that it will not mount a fresh invasion after all the hostages have been released. Israel, on the other hand, was apprehensive that the militant group would try to twist the peace process in its favour somehow.

It was reported that Trump snapped at Netanyahu for being ‘negative’ when he did not initially get a favourable response from the Israeli Prime Minister for his peace deal. He told Netanyahu to ‘take the win’ and later said Netanyahu had no choice but to ‘be okay with it’.

The militant group Hamas too has said it will not send a representative, saying it “will not be involved,” and that it had “acted principally through … Qatari and Egyptian mediators” during earlier talks.

No representatives from Iran, a backer of Hamas and arch-rival of Israel in the region, will attend.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media, “Neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us.”

Araghchi was referring to the US bombing of Iranian facilities in June. The two countries have been at odds since the United States under Trump ripped up the Iranian nuclear deal during his first term. The United States under Trump has sought to exert a campaign of ‘maximum pressure’ on the regime in Tehran.

Netanyahu, too, views Iran as a threat to Israel’s existence. The two countries exchanged a barrage of missiles after the bombings by the United States.

Palestinians make way home

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have begun making their way home to Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding.

“It is an indescribable feeling; praise be to God,” Nabila Basa, travelling by foot with her daughter, who she said had suffered a head wound in the war, said. “We are very, very happy that the war has stopped, and the suffering has ended.”

For many Gazans, the journey back through the enclave’s wasteland led to homes reduced to rubble.

“My house, which I built 40 years ago, was gone in a moment,” said Ahmed al-Jabari, as he stood in the wreckage of a Gaza City street. “I’m happy that there is no blood, no killing (but) where will we go? Will we live 20 years in a tent?”

With inputs from agencies