Israel has agreed to a “humanitarian pause” of at least three days in Gaza to allow UN health officials to administer polio vaccines in the Palestinian territory.the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
“In accordance with what we discussed and agreed, the campaign will begin on September 1, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency’s representative for the Palestinian territories.
The vaccination campaign will also cover the south and north of the Gaza Strip, which will each benefit from three daysPeeperkorn told reporters, adding that Israel, which is waging a war there against the Islamist movement Hamas, had agreed to grant an extra day if necessary.
The goal is to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under 10 years old.
A worker unloads a shipment of polio vaccines provided by UNICEF in the Gaza Strip through the Karm Abu Salem border crossing – AFP/EYAD BABA
“We stress the critical importance of all parties honouring their commitments,” WHO Deputy Director-General Michael Ryan told the UN Security Council.
He said 1.26 million doses of NoPV2 vaccine had already been shipped to Gaza and another 400,000 doses were still expected to arrive.
The drug is given orally in two drops, but health workers will have to return in four weeks to give each child two more. So far,
There has been no public discussion about a new humanitarian pause.
Israeli foreign affairs spokesman Oren Marmorstein confirmed on the social networking site X that his government “coordinated a large-scale operation with WHO and UNICEF to vaccinate children in the Gaza Strip against polio.”
Hamas, for its part, has declared its support for the “UN humanitarian truce.”
Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said it was “vital that this campaign be carried out without delay” and called on Israel to “facilitate access” and “ensure periods of calm” in the conflict.
Poliovirus is highly contagious and is most commonly spread through sewage and contaminated water, an increasingly common problem in Gaza, where infrastructure has been largely destroyed.
The disease mainly affects children under five years old. It can cause deformities and paralysis and is potentially fatal.
