By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -The United Nations said on Tuesday aid flows into Gaza had risen significantly since a ceasefire took effect last month including for items such as tents that had faced Israeli restrictions, even as fears rise that the fragile calm might not last.
After the U.N. update, witnesses at the Egypt-Gaza border said some aid items such as clothing, medical supplies and soft drinks were being held up on trucks waiting to enter the enclave after checks by Israeli officials.
Some truck drivers near Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt added that construction materials and tents had been blocked there since the start of the ceasefire.
Hamas began releasing some hostages gradually under the first phase of a ceasefire, but said on Monday it would free no more until further notice, accusing Israel of violating the terms with several deadly shootings as well as hold-ups of some aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip.
Israel denies holding back aid supplies and says it has fired on people who disregard warnings not to approach Israeli troop positions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the ceasefire would end if Hamas did not return hostages held in the enclave by noon on Saturday.
Hamas said alleged Israeli violations included stopping some humanitarian aid from entering Gaza as stipulated in the deal, such as 60,000 mobile houses and 200,000 tents as well as heavy machinery to remove rubble and fuel.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke told a Geneva press briefing that since the truce took effect on January 19, “we have been able to scale up humanitarian operations significantly with food, medical and shelter supplies and other aid during the ceasefire period”.
‘DUAL-USE’ EQUIPMENT FACES DELAYS
Earlier this month, aid officials said there were impediments to importing some items like shelter equipment which Israel said had the potential for “dual use” – civilian or military. Palestinians have been appealing for billions of dollars in emergency aid, including for units to house people made homeless by Israeli air strikes and bombardment.
Israel denies allegations that it has stopped certain supplies including tent poles from entering Gaza on aid trucks.
“Unfortunately, no tents or any other type of aid have been allowed in,” Jordanian aid truck driver Ahmed Hussein told Reuters in Arish in Egypt’s Sinai region bordering Gaza.
“Trucks leave from Durgham in Arish here, head to the crossing, and more than half of them are sent back. Only a few dozen are getting through,” he said.
COGAT, the Israeli military 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 during the ceasefire so far.
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.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; additional reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo; editing by Emma-Victoria Farr and Mark Heinrich)
