More than 300,000 Palestinians have reached northern Gaza, a day after Israel barred them from returning to their homes. Tel Aviv says Hamas' refusal to release one of six hostages as agreed in the first phase led to its decision to halt the passage of residents to the north.

Israel let tens of thousands of Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas​, under terms of a fragile ceasefire​.

Crowds of displaced Palestinians made the arduous journey back to heavily destroyed northern Gaza for a second day Tuesday, under a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.