Sir Keir Starmer will travel to Egypt on Monday to attend an international peace summit marking the signing of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, where he plans to pay “particular tribute” to US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts.
The Prime Minister will join more than 20 world leaders at the Sharm El-Sheikh gathering, which will be co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The summit aims to formalise the fragile truce that took effect on Friday, ending two years of devastating conflict in Gaza.
Downing Street confirmed the trip on Saturday, describing Monday’s event as a “signing ceremony” for the peace plan that represents a “historic turning point for the region after two years of conflict and bloodshed”.
However, the announcement has sparked fierce political debate, with Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel dismissing the visit as merely a “photo opportunity” and claiming Britain played “no role whatsoever” in securing the ceasefire under Sir Keir’s government.
I think it’s extraordinary that Keir Starmer is apparently going to Egypt tomorrow when we’ve got plenty of domestic issues that he should be resolving,” Dame Priti told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. “I think we have to be honest about the fact that Britain has had no role, no role whatsoever, under Keir Starmer’s Government, in even getting to this very seismic and momentous moment.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson vigorously defended the government’s involvement, insisting Britain had played a key “behind the scenes” part in reaching the peace agreement. This of course is a massive step forward and very welcome,” she told the BBC programme. However, she conceded: “We do have a role, but of course the role of the US has been critical in this, we can all recognise that.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel later rejected Ms Phillipson’s assertion that the UK played a significant role, saying she would “have to contradict” the claim that Britain had been a leading player behind the scenes.
At Monday’s summit, Sir Keir will thank Egypt, Qatar and Turkey alongside Trump for “bringing us to this point”, according to a statement from Number 10. The Prime Minister will then call for continued international coordination to secure “swift progress towards phase two” of the plan, which includes decommissioning Hamas, deploying a ceasefire monitoring mission and establishing transitional governance arrangements in Gaza.
French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend the gathering, the Élysée Palace confirmed on Saturday, where he will “express his full support for the implementation of the agreement”. Other attendees include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Trump announced on Friday that he would travel to the region on Monday, first addressing Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem before heading to Egypt for the summit. “We have a lot of leaders from all over the world coming too, they’ve been invited,” the US president told reporters at the White House.
The ceasefire agreement came into effect on Friday morning after Israel’s government approved the first phase of the Trump-brokered deal following three days of indirect talks in Egypt. Under the terms, Hamas must release all Israeli hostages, including 20 believed to be alive and the remains of up to 28 deceased captives, by noon on Monday.
In exchange, Israel is required to release approximately 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, whilst significantly increased humanitarian aid should enter the Strip. The Israeli military has said it partially withdrew troops from parts of Gaza, pulling back to agreed positions, though forces still occupy roughly half of the territory.
Trump’s 20-point peace plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza along its border. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries including Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, would assume responsibility for security inside the enclave.
The United States is deploying approximately 200 troops already based in the region to establish what officials describe as a civil-military coordination centre in Israel. These forces will help facilitate humanitarian aid flow and provide security assistance, though no American soldiers will operate on the ground inside Gaza itself.
Downing Street has confirmed Britain has “no plans” to send troops as part of the multinational monitoring force. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Friday the UK would support the peace process through other means, including exploring private finance mechanisms for Gaza’s reconstruction.
Many details for the later phases of the agreement remain deeply contentious and could prove difficult to resolve. Key sticking points include Gaza’s future governance structure, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal from the territory, Hamas’s disarmament, and long-term security arrangements.
Ms Phillipson warned on Sunday there is no “cast-iron guarantee” of enduring peace and that international efforts must continue to secure longer-term stability. “We need to see this through,” she told Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips. “There is absolutely more work to be done, and we recognise this can only be the start of a process, not the end.”
The fragility of the peace agreement was underscored by the collapse of a previous ceasefire that began in January. That truce lasted only two months before Israel resumed its military offensive, having never progressed past the first stage of what was supposed to be a three-stage plan.
The Gaza conflict was triggered by Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7th October 2023, during which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 18,000 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
On Friday, large numbers of displaced Palestinians began returning to Gaza City to assess damage to their homes as the ceasefire took hold. Fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing into the devastated territory, UN officials confirmed, though the humanitarian situation remains dire after two years of warfare.
The summit comes at a diplomatically sensitive moment for Sir Keir’s government. The UK formally recognised Palestinian statehood last month in a bid to keep alive prospects for a two-state solution, a move that caused tension with the Israeli government.
Questions have also been raised about the government’s relationship with the Trump administration, given Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s previous critical comments about the US president. When asked whether Ms Rayner regretted those remarks, Ms Phillipson said she didn’t know if the deputy PM had expressed regret but noted that “previous comments don’t appear to have stood in the way of having a very good relationship with the US administration”.
The Prime Minister’s attendance at the summit represents Britain’s most visible engagement in Middle East peace efforts since the conflict began. Whether the trip yields substantive diplomatic influence or merely serves as political theatre, as Dame Priti suggests, will likely depend on the UK’s ability to contribute meaningfully to implementing the later phases of the peace plan.
As Monday’s signing ceremony approaches, the international community faces the sobering reality that formalising a ceasefire on paper is the easy part. Transforming it into lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians remains an extraordinarily complex challenge that will test diplomatic resolve for months, if not years, to come.
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Image Credit:
Keir Starmer — official portrait by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0
