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.

Palestinian resistance group Hamas accused Israel on Sunday of violating a ceasefire agreement by blocking the return of displaced civilians to northern Gaza. "The Israeli occupation is delaying the implementation of the terms of the agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

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