Donald Trump 'saved world from nuclear war' say leaders as peace prize calls surge

World leaders led calls for Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize while praising him for stopping "seven, and today eight wars," including a clash between nuclear-powered India and Pakistan.

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif gave an impassioned case for Trump receiving the prize before Trump spoke in Egypt Monday. Sharif hailed Trump as "genuinely a man of peace," and said Pakistan nominated him for the peace prize, announced as a different winner last week.

He alluded to Trump's "wonderful team" securing a ceasefire in the India-Pakistan conflict. He went on to re-endorse him for the peace prize. Sharif said Trump had stopped "seven, and today eight wars."

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"India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers. Had he not intervened along with his wonderful team, during those four days the war could have escalated to a level who would have lived to tell?"

Leaders meet at Summit for Peace

The U.S. and Egyptian presidents are chairing a gathering of world leaders dubbed "Summit for Peace" on Monday to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal.

Israel and Hamas have no direct contacts and were not expected to attend Monday's summit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not travel to the venue because of a Jewish holiday, his office said. Trump headed to Egypt after a stop in Israel.

Israel has rejected any role in Gaza for the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, whose leader, Mahmoud Abbas, arrived in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon, ahead of the gathering.

The summit comes as Hamas released 20 remaining living Israeli hostages and Israel started to free hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons, crucial steps under the ceasefire that began on Friday.

But major questions remain unanswered over what happens next, raising the risk of a slide back into war - even as the world pushes for peace.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's office said the summit aims to "end the war" in Gaza and "usher in a new page of peace and regional stability" in line with Trump's vision.

In Israel, Trump urged the country's lawmakers to work toward peace. To the Palestinians, he said it was time to concentrate on building.

Israel and Hamas came under pressure from the United States, Arab countries and Turkey to agree on the ceasefire's first phase negotiated in Qatar, through mediators.

Ahead of the gathering, Egypt's foreign minister said it was also crucial that Israel and Hamas fully implement the first phase of the deal so that the parties, with international backing, can begin negotiations on the second phase.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the success of Trump's vision for Mideast peace will depend on his continued commitment to the process, including applying pressure on the parties, engagement and "even deployment on the ground," with international forces expected to carry out peacekeeping duties in the next phase.

"We need American engagement, even deployment on the ground, to identify the mission, task and mandate of this force," Abdelatty told The Associated Press.

Directly tackling the remaining issues in depth is unlikely at the gathering, expected to last about two hours. El-Sissi and Trump are expected to issue a joint statement after it ends.

Under the first phase, Israeli troops pulled back from some parts of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza to return home from areas they were forced to evacuate. Aid groups are preparing to bring in large quantities of aid kept out of the territory for months.