The main United Nations agency for the Palestinians said on Wednesday (4) it was making good progress in distributing polio vaccines to children in Gaza, but called for a permanent ceasefire in the 11-month war to ease humanitarian suffering.
UNRWA said that after three days of campaigning in areas of central Gaza, some 187,000 children had received the vaccine. The campaign will be rolled out to other areas of the enclave in the second phase.
The campaign was triggered by the discovery of a baby case of polio last month, the first in Gaza in 25 years. Israel and Hamas militants agreed to take daily eight-hour breaks in fighting in pre-specified areas to allow for the vaccination program. No violations have been reported.
“Great progress! Every day, in central areas of Gaza, more children are receiving polio vaccines,” the head of the global aid agency, Philippe Lazzarini, told X on Wednesday.
“While these polio ‘breaks’ are giving people some respite, what is urgently needed is a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages + the normal flow of humanitarian supplies, including medical and hygiene supplies,” he said.
Palestinians say a major reason for the return of polio is the collapse of the health system and the destruction of most of Gaza’s hospitals. Israel accuses Hamas of using the hospitals for military purposes, a charge the Islamist group denies.
On Tuesday, COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency tasked with coordinating aid deliveries to the Palestinian territories, said that since the war began it had facilitated the entry of 282,126 vials of polio vaccine, enough for 2,821,260 people.
The body also said in a statement that approximately 554,512 vials of vaccines entered the Gaza Strip, which is enough for 4,973,736 individual vaccines for various diseases and possible epidemics in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza has a population of about 2.3 million people.
Despite the success of the polio campaign, diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire, free hostages held in Gaza and return many Palestinians imprisoned by Israel have failed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Monday that Israeli troops would remain in the Philadelphia corridor on the southern edge of Gaza, a key sticking point in reaching a deal.
Hamas, which wants any deal to end the war to include the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, says that condition, among others, would prevent a deal. Netanyahu says the war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.
This content was originally published in UN celebrates campaign against polio in Gaza and calls for permanent ceasefire on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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