A three-way deal among Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority had presumably paved the way for as many as 6,000 residents of Gaza stranded on the Egyptian side of the border to begin returning home on Sunday. But after the plan was leaked to the media by a Palestinian official, Hamas expressed its opposition to the plan and it became doubtful whether it would be implemented. Hamas’ main bone of contention was that the names of those returning would first have to be approved by Israel. The plan was to bypass the Rafah crossing (where the stranded Gazans are amassed) and enter via Israeli territory from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula at the Nitzana crossing. An Israeli military convoy would escort the Gazans back to Palestinian territory at the Erez crossing in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The main crossing point, Rafah, has been closed since European monitors fled when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip on June 14.