Iran earthquake survivors, sleeping on rubble, ask for help

In a western Iranian town devastated by this week's powerful earthquake, families are sleeping on the rubble of their homes and were fashioning reed shelters to offer protection from the elements on Wednesday, saying authorities haven't delivered enough tents ahead of the fast-approaching winter.

A police officer distributes foods to earthquake survivors in Sarpol-e-Zahab, western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Icy rains will be coming soon to Sarpol-e-Zahab, hard hit by Sunday's 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 530 people and injured thousands. Survivors in other towns and villages nestled in the Zagros Mountains face the same tough conditions, still awaiting badly needed aid three days later.

Iranian officials from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on down have urged quick distribution of supplies and relief material. However, logistical problems, alleged theft and other issues have plagued the response to the disaster in one of Iran's predominantly Kurdish regions.

An earthquake survivor recovers his belongings from debris of his collapsed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab, in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An earthquake survivor sits next to his belongings which are recovered from debris in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

"Our things are still in the house under the rubble, but nobody dares go and take them," survivor Shahla Rezaei said. "We went inside to grab children's school books and some other things but an aftershock hit and we had to escape."

Public order broke down in many areas as aid came in, with families not affected by the quake carting off aid intended for survivors, according to officials, who say police have been deployed to prevent further siphoning.

Many in the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e-Zahab, home to half the casualties from the temblor, told The Associated Press that they still have not received aid and that they need help to remove debris so they can retrieve essential belongings.

A group of earthquake survivors live in tents after their houses were collapsed in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman injured during the recent earthquake walks over debris of a collapsed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017.  (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Reports said more than 12,000 tents were distributed in the area, though more than 30,000 houses were affected by the quake — 15,500 of them completely destroyed. That forced some residents to construct reed huts.

Parastou Rezaei, a survivor and a mother of two, thanked those from other towns who came to give people blankets.

"We do not have enough tents," Rezaei said. "We have to make fire outside the tents at night and keep putting wood in it until morning to protect us from the cold."

Tofigh Merazi, a father of six, including a daughter with a broken leg in a cast, urged the government to provide some kind of shelter, even shipping containers.

"Look at the leg of this child. It is broken. Where should we take her?" he asked.

Earthquake survivors mourn in front of destroyed houses in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017.  (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian state television showed people in Bam, where a magnitude 6.6 earthquake killed 26,000 people in 2003, offering ton of dates to those affected. However, tents appeared to be the primary need.

On Tuesday, Khamenei called for continued aid shipments to the area ahead of the "difficult cold season." Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told an open session of parliament Wednesday that a total of 36,000 tents had been sent to the region, including those already distributed.

Authorities blamed the security situation on some aid not reaching those needing it. Morteza Salimi, of the Iranian Red Crescent, told state TV that despite there being enough aid, "there were some problems in distributing the relief. ... Safety and security were violated."

People clean away debris after a powerful earthquake in Sarpol-e-Zahab, in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Earthquake survivors mourn in front of destroyed houses in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

State media made a point to circulate images and video of Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Iran's oil minister who is a Kurd, visiting the region and speaking to those affected in Kurdish. Farsi remains the only governmentally recognized language in the country, though Kurdish and other minority languages are recognized at the provincial level and in local media.

Newly constructed government housing in the region, which was devastated by Iran's 1980s war with Iraq, collapsed. That's raised questions about that housing project, known as "Mehr" or "kindess" in Farsi, which was a cornerstone of hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's populist appeal. Ahmadinejad's supporters have dismissed the questions as a smear of his legacy.

The official IRNA news agency said 530 were killed while state TV put the number at 432. At least 100 people are believed to have been buried by families in rural villages without going to authorities for death certificates, which may explain the discrepancy.

An earthquake survivor speaks at her destroyed house in Sarpol-e-Zahab in western Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The quake injured 9,388 people, according to a Wednesday report by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The temblor hit about 19 miles (31 kilometers) outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and struck 14.4 miles (23.2 kilometers) below the surface, a somewhat shallow depth that can amplify the damage.

In Iraq, nine people were killed and 550 were injured, all in the country's northern Kurdish region, according to the United Nations.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday vowed that “all hell will break loose” on Hamas if it fails to free hostages this weekend as planned, stepping up threats against the militant group as mediators worked to salvage their ceasefire.

There were signs that the gaps could be bridged. The dispute was sparked when Hamas accused Israel of failing to meet some commitments under the truce, including the delivery of tents and other aid, and said it would delay the next hostage release on Saturday.

Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi told The Associated Press there were “positive signals” the three hostages will be released as planned on Saturday but the group had not yet received a commitment from Israel that it would adhere to the deal.

An Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks said the two sides were close to an agreement. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Israel had committed to delivering more tents, shelters and heavy equipment to Gaza.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment. Israel says it is fulfilling its obligations under the deal, which went into effect on Jan. 19 and has paused the 16-month war in Gaza, bringing respite to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

In the ceasefire’s current first stage, which is to last 42 days, Israel is to deliver large quantities of aid. Hamas is meant to free 33 hostages taken during its cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Eight of them are said to be dead. Twenty-one have been released so far, along with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody.

Hamas’ threat to delay the hostage release sparked fury from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to resume the fighting if Hamas didn’t follow through and ordered troops to be strengthened around Gaza. They pulled back from the territory's populated areas during the ceasefire.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was echoing U.S. President Donald Trump by threatening that “all hell will break loose” if there is no hostage release on Saturday as planned.

“If Hamas stops releasing the hostages, then there is no deal and there is war,” he said during a visit to a military command center. He said the “new Gaza war” wouldn’t end until Hamas was defeated, which would allow for Trump’s “vision” on transferring Gaza’s population to neighboring countries to be realized.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem rejected “the language of U.S. and Israeli threats” and called on Israel to implement the terms of the ceasefire deal. Among other claims, Hamas says Israel is not allowing an agreed-upon number of tents, prefabricated homes and heavy machinery into Gaza.

The ceasefire’s stability has also been rocked by Trump, who has proposed relocating Palestinians out of Gaza to neighboring Arab countries so the U.S. can “own” and rebuild the territory – not necessarily for its current inhabitants.

Jordan and Egypt, where Trump wants Palestinians moved, have repeatedly and vehemently rejected the proposal. Jordan's King Abdullah II did so again after his meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump has also suggested Hamas release all the hostages yet to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase at once – which emboldened Israel to call for more hostages to be freed on Saturday. The releases have been gradual and almost weekly so far.

The latest ceasefire dispute came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin negotiations on a second phase of the deal, which would extend the truce, bring about the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and see the remaining living hostages freed.

But there appears to have been little progress on those talks.

Netanyahu is under pressure from his political partners, on whom he relies to remain in power, to resume the war after the first phase. But he also faces surging outrage from many Israelis, who are stunned by the emaciated condition of the three hostages released last Saturday and want him to follow through with the deal.

Magdy reported from Cairo.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians walk past a pile of burning garbage, as there is no refuse collection in the city and people are disposing of their rubbish in the streets, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Smoke rises from an ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank Nur Shams refugee camp, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians walk past a pile of burning garbage, as there is no refuse collection in the city and people are disposing of their rubbish in the streets, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Birds fly over a pile of garbage, as there is no refuse collection in the city and people are disposing of their rubbish in the streets, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Activists sit on a road with white umbrellas during a protest calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the prime minister's house in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)