September 14, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said,.
Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the U.N. World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.
“There must be a cease-fire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.
Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.
“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.
The three-day vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.
Meanwhile, two car bombings by Palestinian militants near Israeli settlements in the West Bank left three soldiers injured.
The two car bombs exploded in Gush Etzion, a bloc of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Israel's military killed both Palestinian attackers after the explosions in a compound in Karmei Tzur and at a gas station, Israel's military said. Three Israeli soldiers had minor injuries.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a cease-fire that would see the remaining hostages released. But the talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “total victory” over Hamas and the militant group has demanded a lasting cease-fire and a full withdrawal from the territory.
