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Sharm el-Sheikh, Oct. 13 (DPnet).– The ceasefire agreement for Gaza was signed today in Sharm el-Sheikh by the main mediating powers: the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey. A wider summit, co-chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, included leaders from around 30 countries as witnesses in support of the deal.

"At long last, we have peace in the Middle East," Trump declared on stage, flanked by 20 of some 35 world leaders he invited. "After years of suffering and bloodshed, the war in Gaza is over, humanitarian aid is now pouring in, including hundreds of truckloads of food, medical equipment and other supplies, much of it paid for by people in this room," Trump said, echoing earlier remarks to the press about the importance of acknowledging "some of the richest countries" in attendance that will be picking up the tab on Gaza's reconstruction.

The agreement previously signed by Israeli and HAMAS representatives detailed six stages to the deal, beginning with US President Donald Trump's announcement that the war in Gaza had ended and that "the parties have agreed to implement the necessary steps to that end."

The second step states that "the war will immediately end upon the approval of the Israeli government." The Israeli government approved the first phase of the deal on Thursday.

The third step calls for the "immediate commencement of full entry of humanitarian aid and relief" into the Gaza Strip.

The fourth step says that the Israeli army [IDF] "will withdraw to lines agreed upon as per map X attached herewith, and this will be completed after President Trump’s announcement and within 24 hours of Israeli government approval. The IDF will not return to areas that have been withdrawn from, as long as Hamas fully implements the agreement."

In the fifth step, which will take place "within 72 hours of the withdrawal of Israeli forces, all Israeli hostages, living and deceased, held in Gaza will be released."

While declaring all living and dead captives will be released during these 72 hours, one of the fifth step's subclauses calls for "the establishment of an information-sharing mechanism… on any deceased hostages that were not retrieved within the 72 hours or remains of Gazans held by Israel." And it adds: "The mechanism shall ensure that the remains of all the hostages are fully and safely exhumed and released. Hamas shall exert maximum effort to ensure the fulfillment of these commitments as soon as possible."

The next subclause states that "as Hamas releases all the hostages, Israel will release in parallel the corresponding number of Palestinian prisoners as per the attached lists," followed by another subclause declaring "the exchange of hostages and prisoners will be done according to the mechanism agreed upon through the mediators and through the ICRC without any public ceremonies or media coverage."

With all these steps now complete, the signing of the agreement in Sharm el-Sheikh was possible today, and the next step listed says:

"A task force will be formed of representatives from the United States, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and other countries to be agreed upon by the parties, to follow up on the implementation with the two sides and coordinate with them."

President Trump declared in the presence of more than 30 world leaders that he was “pleased” to announce that “numerous countries of great wealth and power and dignity” —countries he declined to identify by name— had pledged to help reconstruct Gaza by “putting up whatever money is necessary.”

“It's a lot of money, but it's not much compared to the value or the wealth of these tremendous countries, and they are ensuring stability and success in the Middle East,” he said. And he added: “... as those commitments are made, I'm going to let the world know who is doing it, because they really deserve great credit for doing it, and they're going to do something that's really monumental.”

Although it wasn’t clear what Trump and the other leaders had agreed earlier, the nuts and bolts of the proposal Trump rolled out alongside Netanyahu at the White House earlier this month largely track a peace plan that has been shopped around the Middle East in recent months by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair with the backing of Trump’s roving special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law and former senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

The plan also calls for aid to Gaza to resume at the minimum level consistent with the temporary ceasefire deal reached by the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administration representatives in January. Israel would also agree not to interfere with aid distribution by the Red Crescent and United Nations, plus “other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party.”

The task of running Gaza would then fall to a “temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza” and made up of “qualified Palestinians and international experts.”