Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, in a rare interview with an Israeli network Thursday, expressed hope that peace would prevail between Palestinians and Israelis following the signing of a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

"What happened today is a historic moment. We have been hoping -- and continue to hope -- that we can bring an end to the bloodshed taking place in our land, whether in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem," Abbas told Israel's Channel 12.

The United Nations said Thursday it had a detailed 60-day plan to rush aid into Gaza once a ceasefire is declared to start helping Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory.

"Our plan, detailed and tested, is in place," said Tom Fletcher, the UN head of humanitarian operations.

"Our supplies, 170,000 metric tons, food, medicine and other supplies, are in place. And our team, courageous and expert and determined, are in place," Fletcher told a press conference by video link from Saudi Arabia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to leave for the Middle East sometime on Sunday, after Israel and Hamas reached a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of Trump's initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza that has upended the Middle East.

(Reporting By Jeff Mason and Jarrett Renshaw)

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, one of the main organizers of the international aid flotilla to Gaza, said Thursday that the movement to get life-saving relief to the devastated Palestinian enclave would continue, after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas.

"There is nothing in the ceasefire agreements to indicate that the illegal blockade of Gaza by Israel, the United States, or any other nation will end," he told reporters upon his return to Brazil.

"As long as there is no justice for the Palestinian people, the flotilla will continue."

CAIRO (Reuters) -Exiled Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said on Thursday the group has received guarantees from the United States, Arab mediators, and Turkey that the war in Gaza has permanently ended.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza that has upended the Middle East.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday that expanding Israeli settlements threatened a Palestinian state and US-led peace efforts, as France hosted Arab and European ministers to find ways to boost the Palestinians after a Gaza ceasefire deal was announced.

Macron hailed the ceasefire deal as a "great hope" for the region, but said the "acceleration" of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank was an "existential threat" to a Palestinian state.

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -With the Gaza war entering its third year, U.S. President Donald Trump has achieved something no other world leader has been able to do: strong-arm Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the first step of a broader peace deal while persuading other Middle Eastern countries to pressure Hamas.

By Jasper Ward

(Reuters) -The United Nations plans to ramp up its delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in the first 60 days of a ceasefire in the enclave, a top UN official said on Thursday, hours after a deal was struck between Israel and Hamas.

The deal is expected to go into effect 24 hours after an Israeli government meeting on Thursday. It will allow fleets of trucks carrying food and medical aid into Gaza, and allow the release of hostages and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces.

It began with a hastily written note and a whisper. It ended with a Gaza deal long sought by Donald Trump.

Something was obviously going on when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made an unexpected appearance during a roundtable at the White House on the left-wing Antifa movement on Wednesday.

"By the way, we have Marco Rubio. Marco, come on up here please," Trump said, beckoning him over to his side of the White House's State Dining Room. "Anything we should know about the Middle East?"

There was. But the scrupulously low-key Rubio was not about to do it in public.

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the Gaza hostages should be released on Monday or Tuesday and that he hopes to attend a signing ceremony in Egypt.

Trump opened a White House Cabinet meeting by discussing a dealreached on Wednesday under which the hostages held by Hamas militants are to be released in the first phase of a broader Gaza plan. He said he believed it will lead to "lasting peace."