Cairo: SiltaNews – News Desk
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the second phase of his Gaza plan would happen “pretty soon,” even as an Israeli airstrike on tents sheltering displaced families in southern Gaza killed five people, including two children, according to medics. Trump, speaking at the White House, avoided giving a specific timeline, saying only that “things are going along well.”
Medics at the Kuwait Field Hospital said the dead included two women, aged 46 and 30, a 36-year-old man, and two boys, aged eight and 10. Several others were wounded. The incident marked a fresh violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas condemned the strike as a “full-fledged war crime” and a blatant breach of international law. The group held Israel fully responsible for the escalation and urged mediators and guarantor states to intervene urgently to halt ongoing attacks against civilians. The group warned that continued strikes on residential areas and displacement camps risk undermining the ceasefire and worsening the humanitarian situation for thousands of families seeking shelter.
Hamas stressed the need to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from evading the obligations of the ceasefire agreement.
Stage Two of Gaza Deal
Hamas and Israel remain in the first phase of Trump’s plan, which has included a captive-prisoner exchange, a ceasefire, and a surge in humanitarian aid delivered to the enclave. Hamas has already released all living captives it held during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli cities, as well as all the remains of deceased captives except those of Ran Gvili.
On Wednesday, Hamas handed over the remains of a captive, later identified as Thai agricultural worker Sudthisak Rinthalak, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. Israel has accused Hamas of stalling captives handover, while Hamas says the search has been slowed by the destruction left after two years of war.
Under phase two of the plan, Israel forces would withdraw from its positions in Gaza and Hamas would disarm as a new multinational force assumes responsibility and a global board headed by Trump supervise a Palestinian technocratic government. Egypt and Qatar, which alongside the United States and Turkey, mediated the October ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, have been pressing for transition to the second phase of the agreement.