(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under his plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

Following are reactions from leaders to the development:

U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

"I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan," Trump said on Truth Social.

(Reuters) -An agreement was reached on all the provisions and implementation mechanisms of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, said on Thursday.

The details will be announced later, Ansari added in a post on X.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

(Reuters) -Hamas said on Thursday it had reached an agreement to end the war in Gaza following talks on a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange.

Hamas called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire, it added in a statement.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher in Cairo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israel and Hamas have signed off on the first phase of the U.S.-proposed Gaza deal, allowing for the release of all Israeli hostages, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.

"I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan," Trump said on Truth Social.

"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace," Trump added.

(Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview published on Wednesday, said U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for peace in Gaza may be general in approach, but remains the best proposal "on the table" for now.

"U.S. President Donald Trump proposed his 20 points which contain the word 'statehood.' But this is all drafted in quite general terms," Lavrov told Russia Today television in an interview published in part on the Foreign Ministry's website.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he may travel to the Middle East this weekend as his negotiators seek to seal a Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal.

Trump said at the White House that a deal is "very close," and that he may depart Saturday for the region. He spoke after talking to his team about the talks. Negotiators have been meeting in Egypt to try to complete an agreement.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is "very close."

Trump said during an event at the White House that he would "go to Egypt most likely" but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.

"I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we'll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well," Trump told reporters at the start of the event.

By Marianna Parraga

GEORGETOWN (Reuters) -Guyanese businessman and politician Azruddin Mohamed and his father Nazar Mohamed would be extradited to the United States to face charges of fraud and money laundering related to gold exports, once U.S. authorities formally make the request, Guyana's Attorney General said.

The businessmen, who own the gold-exporting firm Mohamed's Enterprise, were indicted in a Florida court last week on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering to enrich themselves and defraud the government of Guyana.

By joining the indirect talks in Egypt between Israel and Hamas, Turkey hopes to use its longstanding relationship with the Palestinian Islamist movement to help end the Gaza war.

Speaking late Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Donald Trump had "specifically requested that we meet with Hamas and persuade them" to accept the peace plan the US leader laid out last month.

Italy are struggling to qualify automatically for next year's World Cup finals and the pressure on the team is exacerbated by the tension surrounding next Tuesday's qualifier with Israel in Udine.

Italy was the scene of some of Europe's biggest pro-Palestinian protests last weekend, as Israeli forces continue their offensive in Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across Italy in anger at Israel's actions, and calls for the country to be barred from international sport have grown louder.