Carney to attend Gaza peace summit in Egypt on Monday: Prime Minister's Office

Prime Minister Mark Carney will be flying out tonight to head to Egypt to attend the signing of a Middle East peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza, according to a news release his office sent out Sunday afternoon.

He’ll be joining other world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who confirmed his attendance yesterday. The summit will be held on Monday in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Carney’s trip comes as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still holding ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due by noon on Monday to release the remaining hostages, taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, when the group's militants launched the surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Sunday “we are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles.”

WATCH | What could come next with Trump's Israel-Hamas peace plan:

Chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Nathan Brown of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about the challenges still ahead in the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. Plus, Roger Carstens, former U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, speaks about what this means for regional stability.

The hostages will be driven to a military base to reunite with their families or, if needed, immediately to a hospital, Bedrosian said.

After the hostages are freed, Israel is to release about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and receive the 28 hostages believed to be dead. The military planned to hold a ceremony on their behalf in Gaza, she said.

Meanwhile on Gaza’s borders, preparations are underway to ramp up aid entering the war-battered territory.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said the amount of aid entering the Palestinian territory was expected to increase on Sunday to about 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.

The United Nations has said it has about 170,000 tonnes of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid ready to enter once Israel gives the green light.

The journey to Egypt will be Carney’s first trip to the Middle East since he announced last month that Canada now officially recognizes a Palestinian state.

That decision, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement at the time, was meant to preserve the prospect of a two-state solution. The PMO expressed concern that Hamas and Israeli actions were eroding the possibility of a negotiated settlement.

WATCH | Carney tells UN that Canada recognizes state of Palestine:

Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking at a United Nations conference in New York on Monday, declares Canada officially recognizes the state of Palestine along with other international partners 'to provide the possibility of peace and a two-state solution.'

The PMO added that Canada offers its partnership in "building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel."

Carney first announced Canada’s move in July and said recognition was conditional on the Palestinian authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, making certain commitments.

Those commitments include governance reforms, general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part and the demilitarization of the Palestinian state.

The PMO said last month that "Canada will intensify efforts to support the Palestinian Authority's implementation of this reform agenda, on which progress has already been made."