"While Hamas continues to violate the agreement and still holds 19 hostages captive, there is no justification for any unilateral concessions by Israel," it says in a statement.

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The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is expected to reopen to allow people to cross on Thursday with an EU mission set to deploy there, two sources told Reuters. The sources did not specify what restrictions might be applied to those seeking to cross.

Israel will open the Rafah crossing as planned today in a U-turn after Hamas returned the bodies of four more hostages, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Israel says the Rafah crossing into Gaza will stay shut over the group's failure to return the remains of all 28 dead hostages.

However, the militant group returned several Israeli bodies overnight and two more coffins later on Wednesday.

Hamas hastened Tuesday to ease the pressure on a fragile ceasefire in its war with Israel by returning the bodies of more dead hostages.