Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa received an invitation on Sunday to attend an Egyptian-hosted Arab League meeting on Gaza, the Syrian presidency said.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Monday accused Israel of wanting to "annex the West Bank by force" after Israel deployed tanks into the occupied territory for the first time in decades.

The European Union on Monday began easing energy and transport sanctions and banking restrictions against Syria, aiming to help breathe life into the conflict-torn country's economy if its new leaders work toward a peaceful future.

The EU started to impose asset freezes and travel bans on Syrian officials, banks, agencies and other organizations in 2011, in response to then-President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, which festered into a civil war.

Syria will on Monday begin a two-day national dialogue conference, a member of the organizing committee told AFP, months after an Islamist-led coalition ousted Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is prepared to resume fighting against Hamas after the Palestinian group accused it of endangering a five-week-old Gaza truce by suspending prisoner releases.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not allow Syria's new army or the insurgent group that led the ouster of former President Bashar Assad to "enter the area south of Damascus" as his government made clear Israeli forces would stay in parts of southern Syria for an indefinite period.

Netanyahu's comments Sunday at a military graduation led to new concerns over the Israeli presence, and sway, in a swath of southern Syria as Damascus' new leaders attempt to consolidate control after years of civil war.

Israel's defense minister on Sunday said the army had "evacuated" three refugee camps in the north of the occupied West Bank and had been ordered to remain there for the coming year "to prevent the return of residents".

Israel's army on Sunday announced the expansion of operations in the occupied West Bank including the deployment of a tank division in the city of Jenin, the first time tanks have operated in the Palestinian territory since the end of the second intifada, or uprising, in 2005.

Hamas on Sunday said Israel has gravely endangered a five-week-old Gaza truce by delaying the release of Palestinian prisoners under the deal because of the manner it has freed Israeli hostages.

Hamas freed the first two of six Israeli hostages due to be released Saturday even as heightened tension between the adversaries clouded the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.

The two hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39 — were put into Red Cross ambulances after being brought out onto a stage by masked and armed Hamas fighters in front of a crowd in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Soon after, the Israeli military confirmed that the two had been brought into Israel.