United Nations says aid into Gaza has increased significantly since truce started
Officials specify that tents are being delivered, a day after Hamas threatened to halt hostage releases, claiming not enough shelters are arriving
UN humanitarian officials said on Tuesday that aid flows into the Gaza Strip had increased significantly since the hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas took effect last month, including for items such as tents that had previously faced Israeli restrictions.
The officials’ assessment seemed to contradict the Palestinian terror group’s claims on Monday when it announced it would delay the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday because of alleged Israeli ceasefire violations including obstructing the flow of aid.
That announcement threw the future of the agreement into uncertainty, prompting calls from the far-right to return to fighting, as well as a suggestion by US President Donald Trump that Israel issue an all-or-nothing ultimatum to the terror group to return all the hostages by Saturday at noon.
Hamas on Monday justified the move by citing alleged Israeli violations of the hostage-ceasefire deal, including preventing some humanitarian aid, such as 60,000 mobile houses, 200,000 tents, fuel, and heavy machinery to remove rubble, from entering the Strip.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has been a key issue since the war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted to Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas and save the hostages. The fighting ravaged large swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly all of its 2.1 million residents, many of whom no longer have homes to return to. Israel faced constant international pressure, including from its close Western allies, to up humanitarian aid into the enclave during the fighting.
The three-phase ceasefire includes the gradual release of hostages in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a boost in humanitarian aid to rehabilitate the territory.
When asked about current aid deliveries into Gaza, UN humanitarian office (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke told a Geneva press briefing: “We have been able to scale up humanitarian operations significantly with food, medical and shelter supplies and other aid during the ceasefire period.”
Earlier this month, aid officials said there were impediments to importing some items like shelter equipment that Israel said had the potential for dual use — civilian and military. Palestinians have been appealing for billions of dollars in emergency aid, including for units to house people made homeless by the war.
Israel denies allegations that it has stopped certain supplies, including tent poles, from entering Gaza on aid trucks.
COGAT, the Defense Ministry agency overseeing the aid deliveries into Gaza, said in a statement sent to Reuters that more than 100,000 tents had entered the coastal enclave since the ceasefire went into effect.
When asked if dual use restrictions imposed by Israel are still in place, Laerke deferred to the Israeli authorities.
Edem Wosornu, director of OCHA’s Operations and Advocacy division, said that although aid supplies had improved since the ceasefire, they fell short of the needs on the ground.
“We can never match the needs right now. Gaza is completely devastated, infrastructure is not where it should be. We will try our best. The trucks are but a drop in the ocean,” she told a gathering of Geneva-based diplomats.
The head of coordination at the International Council for Voluntary Agencies warned at the same meeting that the flow of aid could be jeopardized if all parties do not adhere to the ceasefire pact.
Among the Hamas complaints of alleged Israeli violations is that less than 50 percent of the agreed volume of fuel deliveries have been allowed into Gaza, Al-Jazeera reported.
In addition, the Al-Jazeera report claimed only 53,000 tents arrived in Gaza out of some 200,000 that were supposed to be delivered. Of 60,000 expected trailers, none have arrived.
Other complaints are that only four bulldozers to remove rubble have entered Gaza while 500 are needed, and that the Strip’s power station has still not been able to come online due to needed repairs and equipment.
Countering those claims, Channel 12 reported, without citing a source, that 600 aid trucks have entered Gaza every day since the ceasefire started, and 50 fuel trucks.
Also, 300,000 tents have been delivered, including 120,000 “large tents.” The equipment is coming from Jordan, Egypt, and the United Nations.
The network reported that the only outstanding issue is that of the trailers, but Israeli officials say the problem is not with them. According to the report, Egypt, Qatar, and the UN are supposed to send the trailers to Israel where they are to undergo security checks before being sent on to Gaza. The report did not specify where the holdup was in the delivery of the trailers.
Trey Yingst of Fox News posted to X that an official familiar with the developments said several countries and international organizations, among them Qatar and the United Nations, have asked to send trailers into Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire.
However, according to the official, who spoke anonymously, those requests have been turned down “without explanation.” Deliveries of the trailers must be approved by Israel, Yingst noted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent days kept the door open to resuming fighting with Hamas rather than continuing to a second phase of the deal, in line with a demand from the far-right flank of his coalition.
Seventy-three of the 251 people abducted by Hamas during its October 7 onslaught remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
