Too few tents entering Gaza threatens the truce. Here’s what’s happening

JERUSALEM (AP) — Three weeks into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the number of tents and temporary homes entering Gaza risks falling short of the goals set for the deal's first phase.

The looming deficit sits at the heart of a dispute between Israel and Hamas that could topple the tenuous truce.

Hamas has indefinitely delayed the scheduled release of three hostages on Saturday, accusing Israel of obstructing the delivery of tents, pre-fabricated homes and heavy machinery into the devastated territory, where the majority of people are displaced and many live beside the rubble of blasted-out buildings.

Israel rejects the accusation, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza and resume the war if Hamas does not release more hostages on schedule.

Getting enough shelter into Gaza has been difficult because aid workers prioritized deliveries of food at the start of the ceasefire. Israeli inspections and restrictions on what can enter Gaza also complicates the process.

The delivery of temporary shelters could soon ramp up. Resolution of the dispute was in sight on Wednesday, according to an Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Here’s a look at where things stand with aid into Gaza:

What does the ceasefire agreement say about aid to Gaza?

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas says that during the first 42-day phase, Israel must allow at least 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents into Gaza. It also must allow entry of an agreed-upon amount of equipment for rubble removal.

Repairs to Gaza’s badly damaged electricity, water, sewage and communications systems — as well as its torn up roads — are to begin during phase one. So is the planning process for rebuilding homes decimated by the war. All of the repairs and planning are being overseen by the U.N. and ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Simply removing the rubble — let alone beginning reconstruction — could take decades, according to the U.N. It may also be premature, especially if the ceasefire falls apart and Israel resumes its bombing campaign there. U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s stated intention to rebuild Gaza as the “Riviera of the Middle East” adds uncertainty.

In the deal's first phase, Hamas is to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas so far has released 16 of the hostages, in addition to five Thai hostages who were not part of the deal.

Whether the exchanges continue, the agreement says, depends on how the parties adhere to its regulations on humanitarian aid, among other stipulations.

How many tents and temporary homes are getting into Gaza?

Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou told the AP Tuesday that Israel had so far permitted 20,000 of the stipulated 200,000 tents into the territory since Jan. 19, when the deal took effect.

He said Israel hadn't let any temporary homes in and was not allowing entry of heavy machinery necessary to remove the rubble and recover dead bodies.

A U.S. official and an aid worker involved in tracking deliveries into Gaza, said reports from the ground indicate that no prefab homes have been allowed in. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

COGAT, the Israeli defense body that coordinates the deliveries of humanitarian supplies, disputed that, saying in a statement that it had allowed hundreds of thousands of tents in since the ceasefire took hold, as well as shelter supplies.

But the U.S. official said the number of tents reported by aid groups to be entering Gaza was far from the amount reported by COGAT. The aid worker estimated that between 25,000 and 50,000 tents had entered since the start of the ceasefire.

An Israeli official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 30,000 tents had entered and that no prefab homes had entered as of Tuesday morning.

Why has it been difficult to get shelter material inside?

Aid workers say a number of factors are complicating the quick delivery of tents and other temporary shelters into Gaza. For one, the priority at the start of the ceasefire period was getting food and water into a territory on the brink of famine.

Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said humanitarian groups “prioritized bringing in food during the first couple of weeks of the ceasefire to address Gaza’s acute starvation crisis.”

Also, anticipating “mass population movements,” aid groups held back from sending tents in immediately because people would have a hard time carrying them along with all their belongings, she said. The latest report from the coalition of groups tracking population movement in Gaza says that at least 586,000 Palestinians have gone north since late January and over 56,000 have moved south.

Ramping up shelter supplies so suddenly proved a tall order, said Tania Hary, the director of Gisha, an Israeli organization dedicated to protecting Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement. She added that the initial focus in the first days of the ceasefire was meeting the threshold of 600 trucks a day.

“They're scrambling to get in all the tents in their pipeline," she said. “Getting in 60,000 caravans is a huge production.”

There is another factor slowing the pace of aid deliveries: Israel deems some items “dual-use,” meaning they could potentially be diverted for military means.

According to a list circulated to humanitarian aid groups by COGAT, “mobile homes” and large tents require Israeli inspection, even though they are on the list for being fast-tracked. The same goes for cleaning materials, water trucks, generators, metal waste containers, sewer inspection devices and iron waste containers.

Large storage tents, desalination facilities, toilets and showers with certain kinds of metal, x-ray machines and diesel generators require an even more intense approval process.

What does this mean for the deal?

Mediators are hopeful they can resolve the dispute by Saturday and get the ceasefire back on track.

The Egyptian official involved in the talks said Wednesday it was nearly resolved. He said Israel had committed to delivering more tents, shelters and heavy equipment to Gaza.

The same official said mediators Egypt and Qatar warned the Israelis and Americans multiple times after the first week of the ceasefire that the deal risked collapse if the sides did not respect their commitments.

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AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed reporting from Washington.