WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that phase two of his Gaza plan is “going to happen pretty soon."

Asked by reporters when the second phase would begin, Trump sidestepped the question, saying only that things were "going along well.”

"They had a problem today with a bomb that went off — hurt some people pretty badly, probably killed some people,” he said at the White House, referring to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip that killed at least five Palestinians late Wednesday in a new violation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

"They're telling me it just happened. But it's going on very well. We have peace in the Middle East. People don't realize it," he said.

The strikes came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to “respond accordingly” to the injury of soldiers in clashes with Palestinian fighters in Rafah.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.