Egypt to host Gaza peace summit on Monday

An international summit will be held in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, the Egyptian Presidency announced in a statement on Saturday.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Donald Trump, with the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries, the statement said.

The summit aims to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability, according to the statement.

On the same day, al-Sisi said that the current ceasefire agreement needs to receive stronger international legitimacy, and its adoption by the UN Security Council would be the most appropriate approach.

Additionally, the Egyptian president expressed his belief that it is necessary to deploy an international peacekeeping force in Gaza to ensure the smooth implementation of the ceasefire agreement. It is widely believed that al-Sisi's move aims to gather more international consensus and consolidate the progress already made in ceasefire negotiations.

The Egyptian president also announced on Saturday that Egypt plans to host an international conference on Gaza reconstruction as soon as possible.

The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas entered into effect on Friday, following three days of intensive negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh between the two sides mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States.

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

A Hamas source on Friday said the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is expected to reopen in the middle of next week to allow limited movement of people, though details on operations have not been announced.

More than two years of Israeli military operations have devastated Gaza, killing over 67,000 people and triggering famine, according to Gaza's health authorities.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.