What is the ruling on one who fondled his wife after the first tahallul during Hajj without ejaculation?

Scholars differed regarding the permissibility for a pilgrim (muhrim) to caress his wife between the two tahallul (stages of release from ihram). The preponderant and authoritative view is that it is not permissible, based on the statements of Aisha, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Umar: "When you have thrown the Jamarah, everything becomes permissible for you except women."

If the caressing was from behind a barrier, without skin-to-skin contact and with desire, then there is no fidyah (expiation) upon them, but they must seek forgiveness and repent. However, if it involved direct contact with desire, then each of them must offer a fidyah, with the choice of fasting three days, or feeding six poor persons, or sacrificing a sheep, regardless of whether they ejaculated or not. The "blood" referred to here means a sheep.