The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed Israel and Hamas will temporarily pause hostilities in Gaza to allow for the delivery of polio vaccines.
Polio, a viral illness, was detected in Gaza for the first time in 25 years last month.
WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said a polio vaccination campaign would begin on Sunday.
Polio
Polio is a viral illness that can cause paralysis. It mainly affects children under five.
Vaccines have been widely available since the 1950s.
In July, the WHO warned there was a “high risk” of the disease spreading because of “poor quality of water and destruction of sanitation”.
The WHO said that before the war, 99% of Gaza’s population were vaccinated against polio — now, it’s 86%.
This month, it confirmed Gaza’s first case of polio in 25 years in a 10-month-old baby. WHO representative Dr Mike Ryan said the baby “was born during wartime, and never vaccinated”.
In recent days, the WHO called for both sides to allow workers to vaccinate Gaza’s children.
A UN spokesperson also called for Israel to stop ordering mass evacuations, which have forced the shutdown of water treatment plants in areas marked for evacuation.
Polio vaccines in Gaza
Today, the United Nations Security Council met in New York to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.
At this meeting, the WHO announced both sides had agreed to allow three separate three-day pauses in fighting to allow a vaccination program for 640,000 children.
Each pause will be held in a different section of the Gaza Strip and can be extended if more children need to be vaccinated by the end of the three days.
Responses
In a post to X, a spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Government had “coordinated… a large-scale operation to vaccinate children” with the UN.
A Hamas spokesperson told international news agency Reuters that the group was prepared to cooperate with the WHO.
At today’s Security Council meeting, member countries including China, the UK, and Israel’s closest ally the U.S., urged both sides to allow the vaccination program to proceed peacefully.
