The PM is expected to pay ‘particular tribute’ to Donald Trump, who is also expected to attend the gathering, and the diplomatic work of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey
Keir Starmer will fly to an international peace summit in Egypt as part of efforts to secure the fragile ceasefire agreed in Gaza.
The PM is expected to pay “particular tribute” to Donald Trump, who is also expected to attend the gathering, and the diplomatic work of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. A “signing ceremony” for the Gaza peace plan will take place at the event to mark a turning point for the Middle East after the two-year war, No 10 said.
The US president’s 20-point plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside the enclave.
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The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines. The first phase of the plan is expected to see remaining hostages returned to their families and Palestinian prisoners released by Monday morning. Sir Keir will thank Egypt, Qatar and Turkey for “bringing us to this point” as well as Mr Trump, before calling for continued coordination to secure “swift progress towards phase two” of the truce.
US envoy Steve Witkoff told Israeli officials on Friday that Washington would establish a centre in Israel to co-ordinate issues concerning Gaza until there is a permanent government.
This would see no US soldiers on the ground in the enclave, but there will be people who report to the US and aircraft may operate over the strip for monitoring.
A different official said that a group, including the US, Qatar, Egypt and other countries and organisations, would be part of a mission to locate and identify hostage bodies and avoid issues with misidentification.
It was unclear if the 200 US troops coming to Israel would be part of that group or a separate initiative.
The Gaza war was triggered when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.
The United Nations and many independent experts consider the ministry’s figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
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