SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt/GAZA/JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS - A document to support the recently-reached Gaza ceasefire deal was signed Monday by the deal's four mediators, though without the attendance of either Israel or Hamas.

The document was signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The summit, co-chaired by Egyptian and US Presidents, witnessed the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries as well as regional and international organizations.

"I welcome you all to the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit, at this momentous and pivotal historical juncture, in which we have together witnessed the conclusion of the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement to end the war in Gaza," Sisi said in his speech at the summit.

He said the move stands as "a glimmer of hope that this agreement will close a painful chapter in human history and open the door to a new era of peace and stability in the Middle East, granting the region's peoples, who have been exhausted by conflicts, a better tomorrow."

Sisi reiterated support for the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire plan, stressing that the agreement must be "solidified and all its phases implemented, leading to the realization of the two-state solution."

The summit focused on support for the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement to end the war in Gaza, which was concluded on October 9, through the mediation of Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Türkiye, according to the Egyptian presidency.

It also addressed the importance of cooperation among the international community to provide all means necessary to ensure the implementation of the agreement's provisions and maintain its continuity, including a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, the completion of the hostage and prisoner exchange process, the Israeli withdrawal, and the entry of humanitarian and relief aid into the Gaza Strip.

The first phase of the plan includes Israeli troop withdrawals from Gaza City, Rafah, Khan Younis, and the north, the exchange of hostages and prisoners, and the opening of five crossings for aid.

Swap deal

Hamas announced earlier on Monday that it had handed over all 20 remaining living hostages, who were captured during the attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have begun releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of the exchange deal.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel on Monday arrived in the Gaza Strip under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal reached between Israel and Hamas, with mediation by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States.

The buses operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross transported the released Palestinians into the enclave through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southeastern Gaza, as witnessed by Xinhua.

The Palestinians were taken directly to Nasser Medical Complex in the southern city of Khan Younis for medical examinations, as thousands of family members and residents gathered outside the facility in anticipation and celebration.

The Hamas-run Prisoners' Information Office said the ongoing exchange includes the release of about 250 prisoners serving life or long-term sentences, as well as more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza detained after Oct 7, 2023.

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Body handover

Israel's military said Monday that Hamas handed over the remains of two hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and is expected to transfer two more later in the day.

"According to information received from the Red Cross, two coffins containing the remains of hostages have been handed over and are en route to an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and Shin Bet force inside the Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement. "Transfers of two additional coffins are expected to follow."

Photos released by the military showed Israeli Yasur heavy-lift helicopters arriving near Gaza to receive the bodies.

Meanwhile, al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that it will hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages as part of the ongoing stage of a prisoner-hostage swap deal.

In a press statement, al-Qassam said the bodies belong to Israeli hostages Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi, and Daniel Perez.

Trump addresses Israeli parliament

Trump addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Monday during a brief visit as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire entered its fourth day, hailing an "end" to Israel's two-year war in Gaza.

The visit coincides with the return of the last 20 surviving hostages from Gaza to Israel and the release of about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners from Israeli jails, a key step in the ceasefire agreement.

Before entering the plenum hall of the Knesset, Trump briefly spoke with reporters, saying Israel's war in Gaza is over.

"Now, at last, not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others. The long and painful nightmare is finally over," Trump said in his speech at the Knesset.

During the address, he noted that the United States has supplied Israel with extensive military aid. "So many that Israel became strong and powerful," he said. "You used them well."

Regarding relations with Iran, Trump said he supports a deal with Iran but will prioritize addressing Russia first. "It would be great if we could make a peace deal with them (Iran)," he said. "I think they want to, I think they're tired," he said, adding later: "First we have to get Russia done."

Trump's speech was briefly interrupted when a Knesset member displayed a sign calling for the recognition of Palestine.

Ahead of Trump's speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Knesset, pledging he is "committed to this peace."

From Israel, Trump will fly directly to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh to co-chair an international summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Gaza's future. 

Humanitarian operations

To support the immediate scale-up of humanitarian operations, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher on Monday allocated an additional 11 million US dollars in aid funds to the Gaza Strip.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), headed by Fletcher, said the amount was in addition to the 9 million dollars designated last week from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for Gaza.

However, Fletcher warned that without fresh contributions to the CERF, critical aid cannot keep flowing to people who rely on it.

OCHA said that under the humanitarian plan for the initial 60 days of the ceasefire, the United Nations and its partners will deliver life-saving assistance and services to people across the strip, wherever they need support.

The aid will include food, water, health services, shelter supplies, hygiene items, protection support and other critical help, it said.

The office said that the UN 2720 Mechanism for Gaza reported Israel's approval of additional aid, bringing the cleared pipeline to 190,000 tonnes as of Sunday. "These supplies are across the region -- in Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and the West Bank -- and are ready to move."

The UN 2720 Mechanism enables humanitarian partners to register on an integrated application portal and database where all planned aid consignments intended for Gaza are tracked.

For the first time since March, OCHA reported that cooking gas entered the strip on Sunday, and more tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour and medicines also crossed into Gaza throughout the day.

The office said that humanitarians can move more easily in many areas inside Gaza, and teams are reaching people in places that had been cut off for up to several months because of violence.

From Friday to Sunday, partners monitoring displacements recorded almost 310,000 people moving from southern to northern Gaza and about 23,000 movements in other directions, said OCHA.