CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Oct 13 (Reuters): Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as U.S. President Donald Trump declared the end of the two-year long war that has upended the broader Middle East.

Hours later, Trump convened Muslim and European leaders in Egypt to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip and the possibility of a wider regional peace, even as Hamas and Israel, both absent from the gathering, are yet to agree on the next steps.

The Israeli military said it had received all 20 hostages confirmed to be alive, after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross. The announcement prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv.
In Gaza, thousands of relatives, many weeping with joy, gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be freed by Israel as part of the accord.

"The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace," Trump told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, saying a "long nightmare" for both Israelis and Palestinians was over.

The U.S., along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediated what has been described as a first phase agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas and prisoners and detainees by Israel.

At the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh later on Monday, Trump and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hosted more than 20 world leaders for a summit intended to cement the truce.

At the opening of the summit, Trump signed a document with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey's leaders welcoming the agreements on Gaza and pledging to "work collectively to implement and sustain this legacy."

Egypt's presidency said that discussions included the governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza.

"Now the rebuilding begins," Trump said at the summit, delivering an expansive speech where he described in grand terms the Gaza agreement he helped broker, saying it could be "the greatest deal of them all."

Israel and Hamas were not represented at the summit, while the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates did not attend.

Trump at one point greeted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who spoke to the U.S. leader at length. The Palestinian Authority wants to play a significant role in the future administration of Gaza, despite objections from Israel.

Photo from Reuters