Evening Briefing: Europe

US President Donald Trump arrived in Egypt this afternoon for the signing ceremony on the Gaza plan that will be attended by other global leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited by Egypt but is not going.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Italian premier Giorgia Meloni and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are among those taking part.

They are set to start discussions on Gaza’s future, including the difficult issue of persuading Hamas to disarm. Trump has painted the US-led deal reached late last week as a historic accomplishment that will usher in a new era of stability and prosperity, but it is likely to be tested in the coming days and weeks. Leaders may also discuss sending peacekeepers to Gaza and how to go about rebuilding the territory after two years of devastating war.

Earlier Trump called for “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” in an address to the Israeli parliament.

Trump called on Israel to “translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.” He urged for focus on “restoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity, and economic development.”

He lobbied for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to receive a pardon that would offer a reprieve from his ongoing corruption trial.

Hamas freed all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip today and Israel has also released almost 2,000 jailed Palestinians. — Jennifer Duggan

What You Need to Know Today

The European Union will restart its monitoring operation of the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, said the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. The Rafah crossing was the main entry point for goods going into Gaza before the war began — and, until Israel closed it in mid-2024, was also the busiest point for aid bound for the Palestinian territory. The EU has been seeking ways to leverage its position as the largest provider of aid for the Palestinian people in an effort to weigh in on the process, according to a document circulated to member states and seen by Bloomberg.

Macron called on the country’s divided parliament to deliver stability and not precipitate another government collapse. The French president announced a new cabinet yesterday and his prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, is under pressure to pass a budget and bring an end to a long-running political crisis. But Macron has refused to offer broad concessions to rivals and that has left Lecornu vulnerable to a no-confidence vote by opposition parties as soon as this week.

Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, left the country after weeks of anti—government demonstrations. He is the latest ruler to be challenged by youth-led protesters frustrated by bad governance and inequality. Rajoelina was evacuated by a French military aircraft yesterday at the request of Macron, according to Radio France International. Demonstrations by the so-called Gen Z protesters began last month over water and power shortages and led to clashes with security forces in which at least 22 people died.

Madagascar's President, Andry Rajoelina Photographer: Rijasolo/AFP/Getty Images

Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping reached a standoff today in their latest trade spat. The US president signaled openness to doing a deal with Beijing while Vice President JD Vance yesterday said the outcome would “depend on how the Chinese respond.” Hours later, China’s Foreign Ministry made clear Beijing would take its cues from Washington’s next steps, after having already unleashed what it saw as retaliatory actions. Chinese authorities haven’t yet retaliated to Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs over their latest rare-earth curbs.

Three academics will share the 2025 Nobel Prize for economics for their work on the role of innovation in generating economic expansion. Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University, Philippe Aghion of the London School of Economics and INSEAD in Paris, and Peter Howitt at Brown University were named as this year’s recipients in a presentation in Stockholm today. The Nobel committee recognized their collective efforts in identifying what drives growth, and how creative destruction helps with that.

Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Renault are among a number of car manufacturers facing a mass class-action style trial after about 1.6 million British car owners claimed compensation for the manipulation of their vehicles to cheat on emission tests. The three-month trial kicked off in London today against five car manufacturers also including Nissan and a unit of Stellantis. All deny they used prohibited “defeat devices.”

Norwegian officials suspect cyber espionage as the most likely cause of unusual betting surge ahead of the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The Nobel Institute began investigating reports that bets at the Polymarket platform spiked hours before it was unveiled that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. One trader wagered around $70,000 on a Machado victory just hours before officials were due to announce their decision.