TRANSCRIPT
"Well, today is a day of hope, hope for peace. But we have a long way ahead of us. And my presence here, the presence of all the leaders here, is to express a clear engagement and commitment to the success of this plan."
That's Antonio Costa, the European Council President.
His comments came after world leaders signed a Middle East deal at a summit in Egypt - meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and detainees.
This exchange - as part of the first phase of a United States-proposed peace plan - has seen Israel release nearly 2000 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and Gaza release the surviving Israeli hostages, after two years in captivity.
Mr Costa stresses that going on to achieve a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is important.
"And we are engaged on security, on humanitarian aid, on governance in the future to ensure an effective two-state solution for Palestine."
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agrees, saying it's the only way to achieve the ambitions of the Palestinians and allow Israelis to live in peace.
The Egypt President signed a Gaza ceasefire deal along with United States President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan, and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
He says Egypt will work with the US in coming days to lay the common foundations for moving forward with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
"From this perspective, while the peoples of the region all enjoy, and continue to enjoy, their right to independent national states, the Palestinian people are no exception. They too have the right to determine their destiny and look forward to a future free from the spectre of war. They also have the right to enjoy freedom and to live in their independent state, a state that lives side by side with Israel in peace, security, and mutual recognition."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer commends the move by the US President.
"It is a historic day, and it is a real tribute to President Trump that he has got leaders to this position. This has been tried for many, many years, and stepping away from the personalities, this is a huge relief for hostages and their families, huge relief for civilians in Gaza, all of whom have been through unimaginable grief for two-and-a-bit years now, and they are first and foremost in my mind."
He says that's what gives him the determination to do his part with other leaders, reaffirming his stance in achieving peace.
"Using the opportunity here with other leaders to say, how can we now, as a group of leaders, make sure that this is implemented in full, brings about the peace. We owe that to the Israelis and to the Palestinians, and I'm determined that the United Kingdom will play its full part."
Echoing similar sentiment, French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the peace summit as a decisive milestone.
"So today is a decisive step, now we are in progress to prepare the rest. And so starting from tomorrow, we will continue the humanitarian actions and accelerate them, with an Arab cooperation. And we will engage with the United States and Israel to make sure there's an international follow up of these operations because there's a great danger, it's been blocked many times, and that humanitarian aid can be accessed."
He says this aid has to be accessed without delay, continuing in real time in the right volume.
In a statement on social media platform X, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the release of hostages "provides momentum that must be used to end the war between Palestinian militants and Israel in the Gaza Strip".
He urged all parties to honour their commitments under the ceasefire to end the nightmare in Gaza.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq says the ceasefire proposed by U-S President Donald Trump has given the people of Gaza and Israel what he called 'a fragile hope of calm' after months of devastation.
"The United Nations and its partners are rapidly scaling up operations across Gaza. UN agencies are reaching communities in areas that were cut off for months, delivering life-saving assistance. These efforts mark an essential first step in stabilising conditions and restoring basic human dignity, but the needs remain vast and sustained access and funding are critical. The Secretary-General calls on all parties to consolidate the ceasefire and transform it into lasting peace."
Mr Haq says the Secretary-General wants regional and international parties to restart a credible political process.
"He appeals to regional and international actors to seize this moment of respite, to restart a credible political process that can deliver the outcome of two independent, sovereign, democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within their secure and recognized borders on the basis of pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states in line with international law, U.N. Resolutions, and other relevant agreements."
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says the ceasefire opens the door to rebuilding.
The US is expected to lead a massive reconstruction effort - which is a change from President Trump's announcement earlier in the year suggesting the U-S would take over the Gaza Strip and build a "Riviera of the Middle East".
"In one sense, it's so horrible that it could have taken place. But in another sense, it's so beautiful to see. A new and beautiful day is rising. And now the rebuilding begins. The rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part. I think we've done a lot of the hardest part because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild and we know how to build better than anybody in the world."
But the long-term peace plan for Gaza remains unclear.
While Hamas has said in the past that it would agree to step back from governing Gaza, the militant group has refused to disarm - something Israel's Prime Minister has demanded for a long-term truce to end the war.
