The United Arab Emirates has become the first Persian Gulf Arab country to reach a deal on normalizing relations with Israel, capping years of discreet contacts between the two countries in commerce and technology.

The so-called "Abraham Agreement", announced by United States President Donald Trump on Thursday, secures an Israeli commitment to halt further annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.

However, addressing reporters later in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to "delay" the annexation as part of the deal with the UAE, but the plans remain "on the table".

The UAE is also the third Arab nation to reach such a deal with Israel, after Jordan and Egypt.

Here is how other nations and the various stakeholders in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reacted to the Israel-UAE deal:

Palestinian leadership
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the accord.

"The Palestinian leadership rejects and denounces the UAE, Israeli and US trilateral, surprising announcement," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to Abbas.

Abu Rudeineh, reading from a statement outside Abbas's headquarters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the deal was a "betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, and the Palestinian cause."

Hanan Ashrawi, an outspoken member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's executive committee who has served in various leadership positions in Palestine, said the UAE's announcement was the equivalent of being "sold out" by "friends".

Hamas

Hamas rejected the U.S.-brokered deal establishing formal ties between Israel and the UAE in exchange for Israel dropping its plans to annex land in the occupied West Bank, saying it did not serve the cause of the Palestinians.

"This agreement does absolutely not serve the Palestinian cause, it rather serves the Zionist narrative. This agreement encourages the occupation [by Israel] to continue its denial of the rights of our Palestinian people, and even to continue its crimes against our people," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

"What is required is to support the legitimate struggle of our people against the occupation and not to establish agreements with this occupier, and any annexation we will face by a Palestinian confrontation that is supported by the Arabs and internationally, and not by signing normalization agreements with them [Israel]."

United Arab Emirates

The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, defended the deal. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Mohammed bin Zayed decision to normalize ties with Israel reflected "badly needed realism," he said.

  "While the peace decision remains basically a Palestinian-Israeli one, the bold initiative of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has allowed, by banishing the specter of annexing Palestinian lands, more time for peace opportunities through the two-state solution," Gargash said in a series of tweets.

"Developing normal ties in return for this is a realistic approach forwarded by the Emirates," he said. "The successful decision is to take and give. This has been achieved."

Jordan

Jordan said that the UAE-Israel deal could push forward stalled peace negotiations if it succeeds in prodding Israel to accept a Palestinian state on land that Israel had occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

"If Israel dealt with it as an incentive to end occupation ... it will move the region towards a just peace," Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement on state media.

Israel's failure to do this would only deepen the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict and threaten the security of the region as a whole, Safadi said.

Safadi said the agreement must be followed by Israel ending any unilateral moves to annex territory in the occupied West Bank that "obstruct peace prospects and violate Palestinian rights".

"The region is at a crossroads ... continued occupation and denial of the Palestinian peoples' legitimate rights won't bring peace or security," Safadi added.

"I value the efforts of those in charge of the deal to achieve prosperity and stability for our region."

Bahrain

The Persian Gulf state of Bahrain welcomed the accord between the UAE and Israel, state news agency BNA said.

The small island state of Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which has not yet commented on the agreement.

Bahrain praised the United States for its efforts towards securing the deal.

Turkey

Turkey said history will not forget and never forgive the "hypocritical behavior" of the United Arab Emirates in agreeing on a deal with Israel to normalize relations.

The Palestinian people and administration were right to react strongly against the agreement, the foreign ministry said.

"History and the conscience of the region's peoples will not forget and never forgive this hypocritical behavior of the UAE, betraying the Palestinian cause for the sake of its narrow interests," it said in a statement.

"It is extremely worrying that the UAE should, with unilateral action, try and do away with the [2002] Arab Peace Plan developed by the Arab League. It is not in the slightest credible that this three-way declaration should be presented as supporting the Palestinian cause."

Oman

Oman said it backed the normalization of ties between the neighboring United Arab Emirates and Israel and hoped the move would help achieve a lasting West of Asia peace. 

A foreign ministry spokesman expressed the sultanate's "support for the UAE's decision regarding relations with Israel", according to a statement on Oman's official news agency.

Jewish settler groups

The move angered right-wing Israeli settlers who want to annex the West Bank.

Netanyahu said that while he had promised to apply Israeli sovereignty to areas, including Jewish settlements, in the territory, which Palestinians seek for a future state, he had made clear he first needed a green light from Washington.

"He deceived us. He has deceived half a million residents of the area and hundreds of thousands of voters," said David Elhayani, head of the Yesha Council of settlers.

Egypt

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a close ally of the UAE, welcomed the agreement.

"I followed with interest and appreciation the joint statement between the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Israel to halt the Israeli annexation of Palestinian lands and taking steps to bring peace in the West of Asia," el-Sisi said on Twitter.

Germany

Germany welcomed the "historic" deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The normalization of ties between the two countries "is an important contribution to peace in the region", German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the agreement between Israel and the UAE.

"The UAE and Israel's decision to normalize relations is hugely good news," Johnson said on Twitter.

"It was my profound hope that annexation did not go ahead in the West Bank and today's agreement to suspend those plans is a welcome step on the road to a more peaceful West of Asia."

France

France welcomed Israel's decision to suspend its planned annexation of areas of the occupied West Bank under the historic agreement, calling it a "positive step", Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement, adding that the suspension "must become a definitive measure".

The accord paved the way for a resumption of talks between Israelis and Palestinians with the aim to establish two states, he said, calling it "the only option" to achieve peace in the region.

Joe Biden

In a statement, Democratic United States presidential candidate Joe Biden said: "The UAE's offer to publicly recognize the State of Israel is a welcome, brave, and badly-needed act of statesmanship ...  A Biden-Harris Administration will seek to build on this progress, and will challenge all the nations of the region to keep pace."

Biden also addressed annexation: "Annexation would be a body blow to the cause of peace, which is why I oppose it now and would oppose it as president," he said.

United Nations

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, said he hoped the normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE can help realize a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

"The secretary-general welcomes this agreement, hoping it will create an opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to re-engage in meaningful negotiations that will realize a two state-solution in line with relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements," a spokesman for Guterres said in a statement.

"The secretary-general will continue to work with all sides to open further possibilities for dialogue, peace, and stability," the spokesman added.