Is expiation obligatory upon a couple if the husband fondled his wife over her clothes in her vagina during a Ramadan day, without emission?

A fasting person should avoid everything that incites their desires. Fondling is forbidden if it is highly probable that semen will be discharged or intercourse will occur, or that pre-seminal fluid (madhy) will be discharged, according to some scholars. If no seminal discharge occurs, the fast remains valid. As for expiation (kaffarah), it is only obligatory for intercourse.