On Monday, Egypt announced the participation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the “Peace Summit” held today in Sharm El-Sheikh.

An Egyptian presidency spokesperson stated on Facebook: “Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will participate in the Peace Summit.”

The participation aims to “consolidate the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and reaffirm commitment to it.”

The summit, titled “Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit,” begins Monday afternoon Egypt time (10:00 GMT) at the conference center.

More than 20 country leaders are participating, with joint chairmanship by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump, and the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

On Monday morning, presidents and officials from several countries began arriving in Sharm El-Sheikh on the Red Sea coast to participate in the summit aimed at solidifying the end of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel came into effect last Friday, following indirect negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh.

On Monday, the Egyptian presidency said el-Sisi received a phone call from Trump while he was in Israel with Netanyahu.

It added that Netanyahu “also spoke with President el-Sisi, and it was agreed that he would attend the Peace Summit, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also attend.”

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Netanyahu held a phone call with el-Sisi in the presence of Trump at the Knesset (parliament) building.

On Monday, Hamas released 20 living Israeli prisoners from Gaza, while Tel Aviv estimates there are 28 Israeli prisoner bodies to be released later at an undisclosed time.

Meanwhile, Israel began releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences, including 154 who will be deported outside the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, in addition to 1,718 others arrested from Gaza after October 8, 2023.

Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement are set to begin in a few days, with Hamas insisting on a complete end to the extermination war, full withdrawal of the Israeli army, and no abandonment of the “resistance weapon” against the occupation.

With U.S. support, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza since October 8, 2023, resulting in 67,806 deaths and 170,066 injuries, mostly children and women, and famine that claimed 463 Palestinian lives including 157 children.

Israel has occupied Palestine and lands in Syria and Lebanon for decades, refusing to withdraw and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on pre-1967 borders.