\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Officials on both sides said they were in contact with mediators to try to resolve the crisis \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the initial phase of the deal agreed to this month<\/a>, 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<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that it would not allow Gazans to head north \u201cuntil the release of the civilian Arbel Yehud has been arranged,\u201d leaving the timing of the troop withdrawal and the residents\u2019 return unclear.<\/p>\n The Israeli government reiterated in a statement on Sunday that Mr. Netanyahu was \u201cstanding firm\u201d on that decision. Ms. Yehud had also been expected to be released along with about 100 other hostages during a weeklong cease-fire in November 2023.<\/p>\n In addition, Hamas was supposed to have provided Israel with a list by late Saturday detailing the condition of the remaining 26 hostages expected to be released over the next five weeks. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, said on Sunday afternoon that Israel had still not received the list.<\/p>\n Israeli officials have said that they believe many or most of the hostages scheduled to be released in the first phase of the deal are alive, but the status of some of them is not clear.<\/p>\n Hamas on Sunday accused Israel of stalling and of breaching the agreement by preventing displaced Gazans from moving north.<\/p>\n In a statement, Hamas said that it had informed the mediators that Ms. Yehud was alive and had given \u201call the necessary guarantees for her release,\u201d adding that it was following up with the mediators in the hope of resolving the dispute.<\/p>\n The cease-fire deal was mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. The Israeli official said on Sunday that Israel had not received any proof from Hamas regarding the status of Ms. Yehud.<\/p>\n But it appears that Hamas may not be holding Ms. Yehud. <\/p>\n Hussein al-Batsh, an official of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller armed organization that sometimes rivals Hamas in Gaza, told The New York Times on Sunday that Ms. Yehud was in the custody of the Quds Brigades, the group\u2019s military wing. He said that Ms. Yehud was not released on Saturday for what he called \u201ctechnical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. al-Batsh added that senior Islamic Jihad leaders were involved in the discussions with the mediators. A spokesman for the group, Mohammed Al Haj Mousa, then said in a statement that Ms. Yehud would be released before next Saturday to allow displaced Gazans to return to the north as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n But Israel denied that any agreement had been reached on Ms. Yehud\u2019s return. An official familiar with the details said on Sunday evening that contacts with the mediators were continuing and repeated that Israel would not allow displaced Gazans to move north until the issue of Ms. Yehud\u2019s release had been resolved.<\/p>\n