Trump Urges Mideast Leaders to Put 'Old Feuds' Aside

President Trump called for a new era of harmony in the Middle East on Monday during a global summit on Gaza's future, trying to advance broader peace in the region after visiting Israel to celebrate a US-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.

• The whirlwind trip, which included the summit in Egypt and a speech at the Knesset in Jerusalem earlier in the day, comes at a fragile moment of hope for ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas. "Everybody said it's not possible to do. And it's going to happen. And it is happening before your very eyes," Trump said alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The Egyptian leader said he would award Trump the Nile Collar, the country's highest honor.
• Trump said the region has "a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us." He urged leaders "to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past."

• Nearly three dozen countries, including some from Europe and the Middle East, were represented at the summit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited but declined, with his office saying it was too close to a Jewish holiday. A Turkish government official, however said Turkey launched "a diplomatic initiative" to prevent Netanyahu from attending the meeting, and after other countries backed the effort, Netanyahu decided not to come, the AP reports.
• Trump, el-Sissi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed a document that Trump said would lay the groundwork for Gaza's future. However, a copy was not made public.
• The New York Times notes that Trump "made no real mention" of a two-state solution, but el-Sissi said the peace process could lead to "the implementation of the two-state solution in a manner that ensures our shared vision of joint cooperation among all the peoples of the region, and even integration among all its countries."
• Trump said "numerous countries of great wealth, power, and dignity" have stepped up to offer financial backing for efforts to rebuild Gaza. "The money is of course it's a lot of money, but it's not much compared to the value or wealth of these tremendous countries," he said, per the Times. "And they are ensuring stability and success in the Middle East."
• Directly tackling the issues in depth was unlikely at the gathering, which lasted only about three hours and was mostly ceremonial, the AP notes. During the summit, world leaders lined up one by one to have their photos taken with Trump, who smiled and gave a thumbs-up to photographers.