Representatives of five European governments and three Middle Eastern nations, including the summit’s host, Egypt, will converge Sunday on the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss arrangements for a “durable truce” in Gaza, while Hamas terrorists continue to insist they will not be bound by it.
The international summit will include leaders from France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan and Turkey, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
On the agenda is a three-part plan to stop the arms smuggling into Gaza that includes choking off the supplies at their source, improving Egyptian enforcement efforts along the border, and building a better physical barrier against penetration into Gaza.
The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the French leader would co-chair the meeting with Mubarak, and would head to Israel for talks following the summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will reportedly accompany him to Jerusalem, according to the AFP news agency.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to travel to Israel following the summit as well.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country was also involved in negotiations for a ceasefire, announced on Saturday he would attend the gathering. He, too, is expected to go to Jerusalem following the summit.
King Abdullah II of Jordan will also be present at the summit but is not expected to go to Jerusalem.
Although the office of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declined to respond to journalists’ questions about whether he would participate, late reports indicated that he would attend and probably would go to Israel for talks following the meeting as well.
Brown also announced Saturday that Britain was willing to provide naval support to monitor and prevent arms smuggling by sea into Gaza, and would help with European monitors at border crossings.
In addition, Britain, Germany, France and Italy all signed a letter sent to Israel and Egypt confirming that they were prepared to do everything possible to prevent arms trafficking to Gaza.
There appeared to be some question as to whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Friday called for Israel’s ouster from the United Nations, would be attending. According to AFP, he will instead be sending President Abdullah Gul in his place, with the excuse that he has a previously scheduled engagement in Brussels.
Sources said that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was also invited to attend, but initially declined. Abbas reportedly was scheduled to meet with Mubarak separately in Cairo late Saturday night and it was unclear whether he would be present in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday.
The Egyptian president is scheduled to fly to Kuwait on Monday to meet with Syrian and other Arab officials on the Gaza situation.