On Saturday, Egyptian government sources said Trump will be received in the Red City of Sharm El Sheikh by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to participate in a signing ceremony along with the other guarantors of the Gaza peace deal.
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US President Donald Trump is expected to travel to the Middle East to participate in a signing ceremony of the Gaza peace deal in Egypt, potentially marking the end of the two-year bloody Israel-Hamas war, according to media reports.
During the trip, Trump is first scheduled to visit Israel on Monday, where a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an address to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, are planned.
According to Israeli media reports, Trump is likely to meet with the families of hostages, while Egyptian media reports that preparations are underway to welcome Trump on Monday.
The US president's planned trip to the Middle East follows his announcement early Thursday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The deal was made public following lengthy negotiations in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with mediators from Qatar and Egypt, pushed Israel and Hamas to a ceasefire.
Preparations underway for Egypt Summit
On Saturday, Egyptian government sources said Trump will be received in the Red City of Sharm El Sheikh by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to participate in a signing ceremony along with the other guarantors of the Gaza peace deal.
An Egyptian government statement said Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed preparations for the Sharm El-Sheikh summit in a phone call.
According to the statement, both sides explored the latest regional developments, ongoing efforts to put an end to the Gaza war, and the implementation of the first phase of the recently announced ceasefire agreement.
Noting that the deal gives the people of the region, particularly the Palestinian people, hope, the Egyptian Foreign Minister emphasised the significance of carrying out the agreement on the ground throughout both the first and second stages.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the upcoming Sharm El-Sheikh summit as a unique historic event, the Egyptian statement said.
Regional and EU leaders set to attend the summit
Meanwhile, leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, Spain, France, the UK, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Indonesia are expected to participate in the summit in Egypt next week.
In Germany, media reports showed on Saturday that Chancellor Friedrich Merz had "gratefully accepted" the invitation to attend the summit expected to take place on Monday.
Merz spoke on the phone with Egyptian President al-Sisi on Friday, thanking him for his "mediation to end the war in Gaza" and praising his role as host of the peace negotiations, according to government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.
In Spain, the national broadcaster reported Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will on Monday attend the signing ceremony of the agreement to end the war in Gaza, while Italy's Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Florence that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had been invited to the summit.
Other European leaders, such as those of France and the UK, are expected to participate in the peace treaty ceremony as governing powers, while it remains unclear whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend.
Although uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the peace treaty, Trump on Friday expressed confidence that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will hold.
According to Trump's plan, Israel would continue to have an open military presence within Gaza along its Israeli border, and an international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza, while the US would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort in the war-torn enclave.
Analysts expect the summit, with its international backing, to add more momentum and bring final clarity to the peace deal, especially with the challenging aspects of post-conflict security, governance, and reconstruction still pending.