WASHINGTON, October 20. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is confident that a ceasefire violation in the Gaza Strip was not approved by the leadership of the Palestinian movement Hamas.

"I don't believe it was a leadership," the US leader said, commenting to journalists on the situation in the Gaza Strip at a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the White House.

That said, Trump emphasized his readiness to use force against the Gaza-based movement in the event of an escalation. "We have a little situation relatively with Hamas and that will be taken care of very quickly if they don't straighten it out themselves," the US leader said. "They have to be good, and if they're not good, they'll be eradicated," he added.

On October 9, representatives from Israel and Hamas signed an agreement on implementing the first phase of a peace plan earlier presented by Trump, which includes the release of all hostages held in the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to agreed positions.

Overnight on October 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the government had approved the hostage release deal. The Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect at 9:00 a.m. GMT and Israeli troops began positioning themselves along adjusted deployment lines.

On Sunday, two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shelling attack near Rafah in the south of the enclave. Netanyahu accused the Hamas movement of breaching the ceasefire and instructed the army to "take action." The army then carried out strikes throughout the embattled enclave, hitting multiple targets. Hamas denies any involvement in the attack in Rafah.