What we know about Trump's 'peace declaration' at the Sharm El-Sheikh Gaza Summit

Monday was a landmark day in the Middle East, as world leaders made their way to Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh to attend the Summit for Peace, which was meant to be an end point after months of talks on ending the war on Gaza.

US President Donald Trump commenced the day with a long speech at the Knesset, where he praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes - made rambling jokes about the war, and even urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu for corruption charges he faces.

Trump then headed to Sharm El-Sheikh for a summit on the Middle East, where he and the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar signed the ceasefire declaration as guarantors of the Gaza deal.

Several times during the summit Trump emphasised "at long last, we have peace in the Middle East" and "after years of suffering and bloodshed, the war in Gaza is over".

The comments come despite Palestinians and activists expressing concerns about some of the terms, with the future of Gaza still vague. The plan says virtually nothing about Palestinian statehood and Israel's ongoing occupation of the West Bank.

Trump’s speech at the summit was met with a mixed reception across the region, particularly as he used the opportunity to encourage more Arab countries to join the unpopular 2020 normalisation deals with Israel, also known as the Abraham Accords.

Who attended, and who was absent?

The summit was attended by a wide range of leaders, including heads of state and government from  European and Gulf countries, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has sparked backlash at home for his support for Israel amid the war on Gaza, was also present.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had been outspoken regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged for emergency aid to be let in, also attended.

One attendee whose presence sparked confusion was Gianni Infantino, the head of the international governing body of football, FIFA.

In a long speech, Trump made jabs at some leaders, while downplaying certain conflicts, and crediting himself for stopping wars and playing a key role in peace-making around the world.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif garnered attention when he took to the podium and called for Trump to be nominated for next year's Nobel Peace Prize after the president missed out on the 2025 award.

Israel’s Netanyahu was not at the summit despite reports circulating beforehand that he may attend and the country did not send a representative to the summit.

A Hamas political bureau member confirmed they would "not be involved" in the summit, adding they had already "acted principally through … Qatari and Egyptian mediators" during previous talks on Gaza.

Iran, too, did not send a representative despite reports circulating that it would.

"Neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian People and continue to threaten and sanction us," Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

What is in Trump’s peace declaration?

The full text of the peace declaration, titled 'Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity' has been published by the White House, and is co-signed by the leaders of the US, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.

It dubs the deal as a "truly historic commitment" which ended "more than two years of profound suffering and loss".

It highlights six stages of the deal, starting with Trump’s announcement that the war on Gaza has ended, moving on to the next stage which states that the war will end upon the approval of the Israeli government.

The third step calls for the "immediate commencement of full entry of humanitarian aid and relief" into Gaza, and the fourth step states the Israeli army will "withdraw to lines agreed upon as per map X attached herewith, and this will be completed after President Trump’s announcement and within 24 hours of Israeli government approval".

It emphasises that the Israeli army "will not return to areas that have been withdrawn from, as long as Hamas fully implements the agreement".

The fifth step includes the release of all Israeli captives, living and deceased, and notes that this must take place "within 72 hours of the withdrawal of the Israeli forces".

It further clarifies, in a subclause, that the remains of all captives should be fully exhumed and released, adding that "Hamas shall exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfillment of these commitments as soon as possible".

The clause further states that at the same time, Israel will release a "corresponding number of Palestinian prisoners as per the attached lists." Less than 20 percent of the tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners which Israel holds will be released.

The sixth and final step outlines that a "task force will be formed of representatives from the United States, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and other countries to be agreed upon by the parties, to follow up on the implementation with the two sides and coordinate with them".

It highlights the importance of the Middle East for the Abrahamic faiths - Islam, Christianity, and Judaism - and concludes that "no society can flourish when violence and racism is normalised or when radical ideologies threaten the fabric of civil life".

Gaza reconstruction

Earlier on in the day, Trump told reporters that the rebuilding of Gaza had already started, as had some of the first steps of the ceasefire deal.

His peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, echoed the sentiment, telling reporters: "The minute we had inked the deal, Jared and I were already working on the implementation side of the deal."

"So we're dug in. We'll be here quite a bit. That's at the direction of the president. That's probably going to be one of the most important phases here. Jared is remarkable to work with," he added.