A stunning gathering of world leaders joined President Trump at a summit in Egypt on Monday to sign a cease-fire deal involving Gaza.

“It took 3,000 years to get to this point and it’s going to hold up too,” Mr. Trump said as he signed the deal.

Mr. Trump, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sat together at the signing table with other world leaders relegated to seats behind them.

The exact details of what leaders were signing remained unclear.

Notably absent from the summit at Sharm El Sheikh were representatives for Iran and Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present, either.

Mr. Trump has proposed a Gaza Board of Peace to replace Hamas as a temporary government for Gaza and oversee reconstruction.

Mr. Trump was hours late to the gathering, as his visit to Israel lasted much longer than it was scheduled.

When he first arrived in Egypt, Mr. Trump held a meeting with Mr. el-Sisi and answered questions from the press. Mr. Trump claimed phase two of negotiations on the peace deal are under way.

“The phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other,” Mr. Trump said.

The world leaders then stood in line to have their photos taken with Mr. Trump. Among those who shook hands with Mr. Trump was the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

After the signing of the agreement, Mr. el-Sisi said he remained committed to a two-state solution. Mr. el-Sissi also announced that he was awarding Mr. Trump the Order of the Nile, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Mr. Trump then spoke again. “Nobody thought this could happen. With the historic agreement we’ve just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered,” Mr. Trump said.

Calling the document historic, Mr. Trump said it would be “remembered forever.”

“Now the rebuilding begins,” the president said and later added that several countries have already stepped forward to help in financing the process.

Earlier in the day Israeli families had emotional reunions with the 20 living hostages as they were returned to Israel by Hamas after more than two years in captivity.

Thousands of people filled Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to watch the timed hostage release. Cheers went up as the images of the first freed hostages were shown on the screen.