Israeli troops were preventing Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip on Sunday as Israel said Hamas had violated the terms of the cease-fire agreement that went into effect a week ago while Hamas accused Israel of stalling.
Officials on both sides said they were in contact with mediators to try to resolve the crisis — one of the most significant between the parties since the cease-fire brought at least a temporary halt in fighting after 15 months of devastating war.
Under the terms of the initial phase of the deal agreed to this month, Israel had been expected to withdraw some of its forces to allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to head north after a hostage and prisoner exchange on Saturday.
But the Israeli government said Hamas had violated the deal by not returning female captive Israeli civilians first and by failing to provide Israel with information regarding the status of other hostages, as stipulated by the agreement.
Israeli officials said that under the agreement, Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian held hostage in Gaza, was supposed to be one of the four women released on Saturday.
The hostages released were all soldiers who had been lookouts at a base on the Gaza border and were abducted from there on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel that began the war.
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