Palestinian President Abbas to attend Egypt summit
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will attend the summit on Gaza that will take place in Egypt today, Macron says.
The summit, co-chaired by Trump and el-Sisi, will see more than 20 leaders gather to mark the Gaza ceasefire and the return of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Neither Israel nor Hamas will be represented at the summit.
Reports suggest Netanyahu may travel to Egypt for international summit
There’s no official confirmation yet, but Israeli media and some Arabic-language outlets are reporting that upon Trump’s insistence, Netanyahu may also be attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit and that there was a phone call between him and the Egyptian president.
We have to wait and see if there’s an official statement – but this was something that really was a poke in the eye for Netanyahu.
On the one hand, this summit is discussing the future of Gaza, of reconstruction, of Palestine in general – all of which are subjects which Netanyahu doesn’t want to touch.
And on the other hand, the detractors of Netanyahu in Israel have been telling him, “Why were you not invited? You don’t seem to be very popular in the region, and certainly it doesn’t look like you have a lot of influence over the events.”
So it’s really a Catch-22 for the Israeli prime minister – not attending would make him look quite isolated and irrelevant, attending would make him look like he’s complicit in ending the war and for his right-wing allies in the government a breaking point.
Netanyahu to attend summit in Egypt
Israel’s prime minister will attend the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt later today, Egypt’s presidential spokesperson says.
Netanyahu will not attend today’s Egypt summit
The Israeli PM’s office has confirmed that Netanyahu will not attend the summit in Egypt later today.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu was invited by US President Trump to participate in a conference taking place today in Egypt,” a statement by his office on X said.
“The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his invitation but stated that he would not be able to attend due to the proximity of the event to the start of the holiday.”
Earlier today, the White House and Egypt’s presidency said the Israeli PM would be in attendance.
