‘Day the region has been praying for’: Trump, Qatar, Egypt & Turkey sign Gaza Peace Plan at Sharm summit

After a six-hour visit to Israel, U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday evening to attend a summit with countries from the Middle East and around the world marking the signing of the Gaza Peace Plan.

The White House later published the full text of the largely symbolic “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity, which was signed by Trump as well as the heads of state of Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

Earlier in the day, Trump spontaneously invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend to summit in Egypt, but after initially accepting, the prime minister declined, citing the start of a Jewish holiday that would prevent travel.

.@POTUS: "With the historic agreement we've just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered... Together, we have achieved what everybody said was impossible. At long last, we have PEACE in the Middle East." pic.twitter.com/CcvRCxTgwt

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 13, 2025

Israeli media outlets reported that Netanyahu did not want to cause strife with the ultra-Orthodox members of his coalition, while other outlets cited Arab diplomats who said some countries threatened to pull out if Netanyahu attended.

In his speech, Trump struck some of the same chords from his address to the Israeli Knesset only hours earlier, declaring a new era of harmony in the Middle East, which he said has “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us.” He urged international leaders “to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past.”

.@POTUS: "Today, for the first time anyone can remember, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us... If we do, together, we will reach the Middle East’s incredible destiny—a safe, and prosperous, and beautiful crossroads of culture and… pic.twitter.com/wkX4d8t5gB

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 13, 2025

Speaking after the return of the 20 Israeli hostages, Trump said, “This is the day that people across the region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping and praying for.”

“Nobody thought this could happen with the historic agreement we have just signed,” he added, declaring, “At long last, we have peace in the Middle East.”

However, the agreement between Israel and Hamas so far only concerns Phase 1 of the 20-point plan, including the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a partial Israeli military withdrawal and an increase in humanitarian aid, leaving many questions about the disarmament of the terror group.

.@POTUS: "The momentous breakthrough that we're here to celebrate tonight is more than the end of the war in Gaza—with God’s help, it will be a new beginning for an entire, beautiful, Middle East... we can build a region that's strong, and stable, and prosperous, and united in… pic.twitter.com/Tr46ahrPKi

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 13, 2025

By Monday evening, Hamas had already broken some of the deal’s terms by only returning four hostage bodies, calling the future success of the ceasefire deal into question.

Nevertheless, Trump doubled down. “After years of suffering and bloodshed, the war in Gaza is over. Humanitarian aid is now pouring in, including hundreds of truckloads of food and medical equipment and other supplies.”

“Now the rebuilding begins.”

He once again urged other countries to make peace with Israel and join the Abraham Accords, stressing that there was no excuse left.

“We don’t have a Gaza and we don’t have an Iran as an excuse,” Trump said. “All the momentum now is toward a great, glorious and lasting peace.”

.@POTUS: We've all agreed that supporting Gaza must be done to lift up the people themselves, but we don't want to fund anything having to do with bloodshed, hatred, and terror...For this same reason, we also agreed that Gaza’s reconstruction requires that it be de-militarized... pic.twitter.com/vWwq6NQ2W2

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 13, 2025

At the sidelines of the summit, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed the importance of the U.S. commitment to the success of the plan.

“We need American engagement, even deployment on the ground, to identify the mission, task and mandate” of the peacekeeping force that is supposed to take over security in Gaza from Hamas, Abdelatty told the Associated Press.

The Egyptian leader emphasized that Hamas would have no role in the coming transitional phase in Gaza, adding that the UN Security Council Resolution will need to endorse the deployment of the peacekeepers.

Abdelatty also disclosed that a 15-member committee of Palestinian technocrats, without any connections to Palestinian terror groups and vetted by Israel, has been selected to govern civilian affairs in Gaza.