Trump traveled on to Egypt to meet with other world
leaders, including the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority,
France, Germany and the United Kingdom. They converged on the resort town of
Sharm el-Sheikh, where Egypt and the US are co-hosting a summit on the end of
the Gaza war and the next phases of a peace plan.
World leaders took part in a signing ceremony for
the Gaza ceasefire deal during the summit.
President Donald Trump and
other world leaders pose for a photo during a summit of European and Middle
Eastern leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday.
Netanyahu said he was invited but did not attend.
The 20-point ceasefire plan brokered by the United
States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey still has several unresolved issues and details
that must be hammered out.
Those sticking points include how the largely
destroyed Gaza Strip will be governed after the war, as well as how Hamas’
disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza will be carried out.
The full withdrawal of the Israeli military is
contingent on Hamas’ disarmament, according to the agreement, leaving some
wiggle room for Netanyahu to say Israel still has the freedom to resume
fighting.
Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said last
week that the group has received guarantees from the US and international
mediators confirming that this deal means “the war has ended permanently,”
rather than representing a temporary ceasefire. It’s not clear in what form
those guarantees came.
The key unanswered question is what will happen to
Hamas, according to Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East
security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank.
“You have what looks like a pathway to Palestinian
statehood … but this, ultimately, is a Palestinian state that does not seem to
have any place for Hamas. To what extent Hamas will agree to this and comply
with this in the weeks and months to come – I think that is a big question,”
Ozcelik told CNN.
“I think Israel will retain what it sees as its
national security imperative to operate in Gaza if it believes that there is a
credible threat to its security and its border communities,” Ozcelik said. “But
at the same time, there needs to be a governing body in Gaza. There needs to be
security and law enforcement. There needs to be basic service delivery and
distribution of vital humanitarian aid.”
She added that other regional actors will be
expected to play an important role in the transition, particularly Egypt and
Turkey. “I think for the time being, all sides are going to want to be seen as
doing all that they can to make Trump’s plan work.”
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