Aid trucks have been entering Gaza and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing as Hamas handed over more bodies of dead hostages, following a dispute that had threatened the fragile ceasefire in the territory.
Israel had warned that it could keep the Rafah crossing shut and reduce aid supplies because Hamas was returning bodies too slowly, showing the risks to a truce that has stopped two years of devastating warfare in Gaza and seen all living hostages held by the militant group freed.
However, several Israeli bodies have been returned.
An Israeli security official said that preparations were under way to open the Rafah crossing to Gazan citizens, while a second official said that 600 aid trucks would go in.
Seeking to keep the pressure on Hamas, US President Donald Trump said that he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if it failed to uphold its end of the ceasefire agreement that he brokered.
"Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they'd do that," he was quoted as saying to CNN when asked what would happen if Hamas refused
Hamas returned four bodies confirmed as dead hostages on Monday and another four bodies yesterday, though Israeli authorities said one of them was not that of a hostage.
The Israeli military said it received two more coffins from the Red Cross at a meeting point in northern Gaza tonight and the remains were being taken for forensic identification.
The dispute over the return of bodies still has the potential to upset the ceasefire deal along with other major issues that are yet to be resolved.
Israel said that the next phase of the truce calls for Hamas to disarm and cede power, which it has refused to do.
It has launched a security crackdown, parading its power in Gaza through public executions and clashes with local clans.
Longer-term elements of the ceasefire plan, including how Gaza will be governed, the make-up of an international stabilisation force and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state have yet to emerge.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered preparation of a comprehensive plan for the "total defeat" of Hamas if it refuses to abide by the agreement and fighting is renewed, according to a ministry statement.
Until the latest handover of two coffins, 21 bodies of hostages had remained in Gaza, though some may be hard to find or recover because of destruction during the conflict.
An international task force is meant to find them.
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"The resistance has abided by what was agreed upon and has handed over all the living captives it had, as well as the bodies it was able to retrieve," Hamas' armed wing said.
"As for the remaining bodies, locating and recovering them requires major efforts and special equipment, and we are exerting great effort to close this file."
The deal also requires Israel to return the bodies of 360 Palestinians. The first group of 45 was handed over yesterday and the remains were being identified, according to Gaza's health authorities.
The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with nearly all inhabitants driven from their homes, famine, and health authorities overwhelmed.
"Our situation is utterly tragic. We went back to our homes in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood and found there are no homes at all. There is no shelter. Nothing," said Moemen Hassanein in Gaza City, with tents and shanties behind him.
Video footage showed trucks moving from the Egyptian side of the border to the Rafah crossing, some carrying fuel and others loaded with pallets of aid.
However, it was not clear if that convoy would complete its crossing into Gaza as part of the 600 trucks that were due to enter the enclave today - the daily number required under the ceasefire plan.
Rafah is due to be open for people to cross tomorrow with a European Union mission deployed there, two sources said.
The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said it was preparing to operate the crossing.
"Humanitarian aid continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and other crossings after Israeli security inspection," the Israeli security official said.
The United Nations' top emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, said the 600 trucks approved to enter the territory was a "good base", but not enough to meet the scale of need.
"We have 190,000 metric tons of provisions on the borders waiting to go in and we're determined to deliver. That's essential life-saving food and nutrition," he added.
Underscoring the political challenges facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an opponent of the ceasefire plan, said on social media that the aid delivery was a "disgrace" and accused Hamas of lies over the return of hostages' bodies.
Watch: Donald Trump says Hamas must disarm or it will be disarmed
Several other Palestinian factions in Gaza have backed a days-long Hamas security crackdown as it battles local clans. The militant group has executed several people that it accused of collaborating with Israel.
The US military's Middle East command called on Hamas to "suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians" and to disarm "without delay".
Earlier this week, President Trump endorsed the group's crackdown on gangs, while warning it would face airstrikes if it did not later disarm.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the public executions after a video, authenticated by Reuters, showed masked gunmen shooting dead seven men in a Gaza street.
Israeli forces in the territory have pulled back to what the ceasefire deal calls a yellow line just outside the main cities.
