Monday, 25 May 2026
Global leaders convene in Sharm el-Sheikh for a Gaza peace summit
On Monday, leaders and high-ranking officials from multiple nations gathered in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh for a global summit focused on peace in Gaza.
Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News Channel reported that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi greeted several dignitaries ahead of the conference, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, King Abdullah II of Jordan, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.
Among other notable arrivals were French President Emmanuel Macron, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, also attended the gathering.
The Egyptian president additionally welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA.
Delegations from Paraguay and the Netherlands were also present, though the channel did not specify their representatives' ranks.
Over 20 world leaders are expected to take part in the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, which is jointly chaired by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Egypt has stated that the summit’s primary objectives are “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, bolster efforts toward peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security.”
The initial phase of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, initiated by Trump’s proposal to conclude the Israeli conflict that has spanned two years, began on Friday.
Since October 2023, Israeli operations have resulted in the deaths of more than 67,800 Palestinians in Gaza—primarily women and children—rendering much of the territory uninhabitable.