(LONDON) -- President Donald Trump implied Hamas has been given approval to act as a Palestinian police force in Gaza "for a period of time" in the wake of implementing phase one of the ceasefire agreement.
While en route to the Middle East early Monday aboard Air Force One, Trump responded to a question from a reporter about reports of Hamas rearming themselves.
"Well, they [Hamas] are standing because they do want to stop the problems, and they've been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time," Trump said.
Trump continued that Palestinians are returning to buildings that have been destroyed, after two years of war, and "a lot of bad things can happen."
"We want it to be safe. I think it's going to be fine. Who knows? Who knows for sure?" he said. "But I think it's going to be fine."
ABC News has asked the White House for further comment and has not yet received a response.
The first phase of the U.S.-brokered peace deal went into effect on Friday, calling for the return of all living and dead hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of scores of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area.
While Trump’s overall 20-point peace plan proposal calls for the disarmament of Hamas and stipulates the militant group cannot play a role in the future governance of Gaza, these points are not covered by the initial phase of the agreement.
The final 20 remaining living hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned to Israel on Monday as part of an exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, officials said.
On Monday, Trump said negotiations on phase two of the peace plan for Gaza had "started," though he did not specify what that entailed.
"I mean, it started as far as we're concerned," Trump said during remarks in Egypt, where he attended a signing ceremony after addressing the Israeli Knesset earlier in the day. “Phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza -- it needs a lot of cleanup."
ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.
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