All eyes on Gaza Peace summit and hostage-prisoner release

After around 2 years since the October 7 attacks and the start of the devastating Gaza War, the two sides have finally reached common grounds, at least for the time being regarding the first phase of the Trump Peace Deal. The hostage-prisoner agreement will be implemented today and successfully completed by noon local time, as Trump arrives to Tel Aviv.

Simultaneously, a significant international conference will be held later that day in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in support of the aforementioned peace deal, with the participation of the US President as well.

The Hostage-Prisoner exchange

According to the first phase agreement reached last week, Hamas is supposed to release all remaining 20 hostages by noon. Indeed, the first group of 7 hostages were effectively released shortly after 8am local time, which were transferred by the Red Cross and to be delivered to the IDF inside the obliterated Strip. The remaining batch is set to be freed at 10am local time. While the agreement also mentions the handing over of the 28 deceased hostages, Hamas claimed that it has no intel regarding the bodies’ exact locations.

On the other hand, Israel is, in turn, supposed to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held captive in Israeli jails, including 250 serving life sentences and 1,700 detained in Gaza following the October 7 attacks (although it refused to set free Palestinians with prominent reputation, such as Hamas military leader Ibrahim Hamed and the former Fatah leader in the West Bank Marwan Barghouti).

Amid this bright picture, US President Donald Trump is set to land in Israel on the same day. Although his trip will be brief, he will nevertheless address Tel Aviv’s Knesset and meet with hostage families as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When asked about his thoughts while en route in Air Force One, Trump claimed that his message will center around “Love and peace for eternity.” Trump also expressed his happiness towards the hostages rally held in Tel Aviv on Saturday. During the latter, the crowd cheered when US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff mentioned Trump’s name, while booed when Netanyahu’s name came up, thus signaling a profound appreciation regarding Trump’s efforts in ending the war in Gaza and bringing the hostages home.

The Egypt international summit

Later on, prominent leaders from more than 20 countries will attend an international conference at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The conference, co-hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump, will be held in support of Trump’s recent Gaza Peace Deal and will deal with the Strip’s prospects for the foreseeable future. The summit’s aim is “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”, according to the Egyptian presidency.

The conference will be attended by esteemed officials, including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. However, key relevant officials will be absent form today’s conference, including those from Israel, Iran and Hamas – despite being invited.

To this extent, Trump claimed that the Gaza peace deal “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in.”