A polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza is expected to resume on Sunday, a day after the UN children’s agency, Unicef, said three children were injured in an attack “near” a clinic.
The center did not say who did this, but the head of the civil defense in Gaza told AFP that this was done by an Israeli quadcopter. Israel said it is investigating but does not believe it is the one who did this.
Unicef, which helps lead the vaccination drive, described the strike at the Sheikh Radwan clinic as “another example of indiscriminate strikes against people.”
The second phase of vaccine release started on Saturday after postponed to October due to Israeli bombings, mass displacement and lack of access to the region.
Gaza recorded its own First case of polio in 25 years in August, which left the boy with disabilities and prompted this program to be started.
Vaccination resumes as 15 UN agencies and humanitarian organizations describe the situation in northern Gaza as “catastrophe” almost a month after the start of the Israeli offensive.
A temporary ceasefire has been agreed to allow vaccination to resume in Gaza City, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The campaign will last for three days.
The WHO also said on Saturday that it is very concerned about the reports that the Sheikh Radwan clinic was attacked during the vaccination campaign. It said six people were injured, including four children.
About 15,000 children under the age of 10 in the northern towns of Gaza, such as Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, are “out of reach” and will miss the vaccination campaign, jeopardizing its effectiveness, the agency said.
WHO aimed to give 119,000 children in the area a second dose of oral polio vaccine.
The agency added that achieving this target is “now impossible due to access problems”.
The first round of the vaccination campaign successfully reached 559,000 children under the age of 10 in the three areas of southern, central and northern Gaza between 1 and 12 September, when there was a “temporary suspension” of the area agreed by Israel and the Palestinian factions.
However, the area agreed to in the latest aid freeze has been “significantly reduced” compared to the first vaccination round and is now limited to Gaza City only, according to the WHO.
Since the beginning of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, medical experts have stressed that a delay in giving the second dose could jeopardize all efforts to stop the transmission of the contagious, potentially fatal disease.
To interrupt transmission, at least 90 percent of all children need to be given a minimum of two doses.
The UN human rights chief said last week that the “darkest period” of the war in Gaza was taking place in the north of the territory.
Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed since Israeli forces launched an offensive in Beit Lahia and the neighboring areas of Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on October 6, saying they were fighting a regrouping of Hamas.
At least 100,000 people have been forced to flee northern Gaza to Gaza City for safety, the WHO said.
A joint statement by UN bodies, including the WHO, released on Friday, said the situation is “apocalyptic”, as all Palestinians in the area are “at risk of death from disease, hunger and violence”.
The UN estimates that around 100,000 civilians remain in critical condition, with severe shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
The US warned Israel this week to rapidly increase aid to Gaza as deadline methods increasing aid or dealing with reducing US military aid. The US envoy to the UN said on Tuesday that Israel’s words “must be matched by action”, which “doesn’t happen”.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were captured.
More than 43,300 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the area.
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