Israel has warned that Hamas must release three hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in Gaza, after the Palestinian militant group said it was committed to the ceasefire agreement.
Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the truce, which was plunged into crisis after Hamas said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations of the deal.
Israel responded, warning that it would resume military operations if the captives were not released on schedule.
"We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it," Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said, adding that mediators were pushing for Israel "to resume the exchange process on Saturday".
The group said that it remained committed to carrying out the next exchange "according to the specified timetable".
Israel insisted that Hamas must release "three live hostages" on Saturday under the truce framework.
"If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end," said government spokesman David Mencer.
Meanwhile, at Rafah, Egypt's border crossing with Gaza, a row of bulldozers was seen lining up and waiting to enter the war-ravaged territory.
Egyptian state-linked media said that heavy equipment and trucks carrying mobile homes were ready to go in, but Israeli officials said they would not be allowed to use the Rafah crossing.
Hamas has previously accused Israel of holding up the delivery of heavy machinery needed to clear the vast amount of rubble littering the territory.
US President Donald Trump warned this week that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release "all" the remaining hostages by Saturday.
If fighting resumes, Israel's Minister of Defense Israel Katz said "the new Gaza war ... will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages".
"It will also allow the realisation of US President Trump's vision for Gaza," he added.
War raged for more than 15 months before the ceasefire took effect on Sunday 19 January.
Mr Trump, whose return to the White House has emboldened the Israeli far right, sparked global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.
Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened to launch new attacks on Israel if it and the US - its ally - went ahead with his plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza.
The ceasefire, which is in its first phase, has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.
The two sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, sparking concern that the violence could resume.
Last week's hostage release sparked anger in Israel and beyond after Hamas paraded three emaciated detainees before a crowd and forced them to speak.
The militant group, in turn, accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments under the agreement.
However, analyst Mairav Zonszein, of the International Crisis Group, said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas are still interested in maintaining the truce and have not "given up on anything yet".
"They're just playing power games," she said.
In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a motorway near the city of Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage-prisoner swaps, urged the parties to maintain the truce.
"Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it," the ICRC said.
President Trump's proposal for Gaza and for moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt would, according to experts, violate international law, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as "revolutionary".
Hamas called for worldwide "solidarity marches" this weekend to denounce "the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land".
Last week, Mr Katz ordered the Israeli army to prepare for "voluntary" departures from Gaza and said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around Gaza.
Mr Trump reaffirmed his Saturday deadline for the hostage release while hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday.
In a phone call yesterday, King Abdullah and Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said they were united in supporting the "full implementation" of the ceasefire, and in their opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.
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Many Gazans have also voiced opposition to the plan.
"Who is Trump? Is he God almighty? The land of Jordan is for Jordanians, and the land of Egypt belongs to Egyptians," said Gaza City resident Abu Mohamed al-Husari.
"We are here, deeply rooted in Gaza - the resilient, besieged, and unbreakable Gaza."
The 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally of official Israeli figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military said are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,222 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
