As Israel prepares to celebrate the return of the hostages and identify the remains of those who did not survive, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his deputy are heading to Egypt to attend the “Peace Summit” in Sharm el-Sheikh — an event where the end of the Gaza war will be declared and discussions will focus on Gaza’s reconstruction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, was not invited.
The Palestinian Authority delegation was invited “personally” by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who will host leaders from at least 20 countries. The guest list includes U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and representatives from Italy, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Qatar.
2 View gallery
(Photo: AP/Mohammad Abu Samra, Evan Vucci, Martin Sylvest / Ritzau Scanpix AFP, Haim Scholdberg, Chaim Goldberg Flash 90)
Officials in the Palestinian Authority said that “contrary to hostile rumors, coordination and relations with Egypt remain very good.”
The announcement of the summit came over the weekend, when the Egyptian presidency said it was “intended to end the war in the Gaza Strip, strengthen efforts toward peace and stability in the Middle East, and open a new chapter of regional security and cooperation.”
Sissi will formally host the event, but it will be co-led by U.S. President Trump, who is expected to visit Israel beforehand. Macron said Sunday that, during his visit to Egypt, he would discuss with “regional partners” the implementation of the Gaza peace plan and reaffirm France’s support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
For Sissi, inviting Netanyahu would have been diplomatically uncomfortable, to say the least. Hostility toward Israel in Egypt and across the Arab world is currently at its peak, and the Egyptian leader is unlikely to want the optics of welcoming Netanyahu at this time. Other Arab leaders also may have been unwilling to appear publicly alongside him, seeing such a move as a political gift that would not sit well with Arab public opinion.
Moreover, the entire framework for ending the war and securing the hostage deal was largely shaped by Trump - not Netanyahu, and the prime minister has little incentive to attend a conference focused on reviving the two-state solution and restarting peace talks with the Palestinians.
Initially, it appeared that the Palestinian Authority had not been invited either. But once Abbas’ invitation was confirmed, it became clear that Washington did not insist on Netanyahu’s participation — assuming Sissi was the one who made the call — because it simply wasn’t a priority. The U.S. is focused on securing broad international support for postwar reconstruction in Gaza, including getting countries to contribute troops for a stabilization force and financial aid for rebuilding the Strip. Netanyahu’s presence, officials noted, would not have helped those goals.
Still, the absence of an Israeli representative sends a troubling message for normalization. A photograph of Netanyahu standing alongside Arab and Muslim leaders could have helped signal a new era of reconciliation. Yet it appears both the Americans and the Egyptians decided that, for now, such a gesture would be premature.