Some troops had been expected to withdraw to allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to go home. But the military said the hostage exchange before that step had not gone as agreed.

Israel accused Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released, stopping thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.

Hamas released four female Israeli hostages on Saturday, in a second round of exchanges between Israel and Hamas which will see around 200 Palestinian soldiers released later today.

Israel is preventing movement to the north of Gaza until plans are set for the release of Arbel Yehud, one of the last civilian women held in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaching the terms of the ceasefire deal on Saturday after four more hostages were released from Gaza.

Hamas said that it intends to release Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag on Saturday. All four of the women were serving as Israel Defense Forces soldiers at the time of their kidnapping.

Four female Israeli soldiers were reunited with their families on Saturday while jubilant crowds in the West Bank and Gaza celebrated the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Hamas handed over four female Israeli soldiers it had held captive in Gaza, and 200 jailed Palestinian militants were freed on Saturday under the second swap of a week-old ceasefire deal mediated by Arab powers with Washington’s blessing.