Cairo: EgyPulse – News Desk
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty will travel to Paris to participate in a ministerial meeting convened by France to discuss arrangements for the situation in the Gaza Strip. The meeting follows “recent positive developments” in Sharm El-Sheikh, seen as a pivotal moment in the Gaza war, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Thursday.
The high-level gathering will bring together foreign ministers and senior officials from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. Israel and Hamas have confirmed their agreement to a long-awaited ceasefire and prisoner exchange, marking the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war that has killed over 67,000 people.
The progress comes after meetings between delegations from Hamas and Israel met in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh in the presence of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Head of the General Intelligence Services Major General Hassan Rashad and his Turkish counterpart, Ibrahim Kalin, also participated, alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide, Ron Dermer, reportedly headed the Israeli delegation. Hamas and Israel are expected to sign the deal at 12 PM, a source briefed on the details of the agreement told Reuters on Thursday. The ceasefire in Gaza will take effect once the agreement is signed, the source added.
Trump said on Wednesday that he may travel to Egypt this weekend as part of a regional tour. His remarks came shortly after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi publicly invited him to attend the signing ceremony of a potential agreement to end the war in Gaza, should negotiations succeed.
