Polio vaccine campaign begins in Gaza a day before fighting is expected to briefly pause
A small number of children in Gaza received vaccine doses a day before the large-scale rollout and limited pauses in the fighting, ITV News' Amy Lewis reports
A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus has begun, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
A small number of children in Gaza received vaccine doses a day before the large-scale rollout and limited pauses in the fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
"There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr Yousef Abu Al-Rish, Gaza's deputy health minister.
Israel has only so far agreed to that the vaccination program would continue until September 9 and last eight hours a day.
It will allow health workers to administer vaccines with the aim of reaching some 640,000 Palestinian children.
Polio is spread through fecal matter, and Gazan's living in crowded camps face dealing with raw sewage running past their tents.
“I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose Saturday.
Healthcare workers in Gaza have warned of the potential for a polio outbreak for months.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement: “Israel will allow a humanitarian corridor only”, adding that “areas will be established that will be safe for administering the vaccines for a few hours”.
The 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.
Most people who contract the disease do not experience symptoms, and those who do usually recover in a week or so - but there is no cure.
The territory's humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry said hospitals received 89 dead people on Saturday, including 26 who has been killed in an overnight Israeli bombardment, which wounded 205 people - making it one of the highest daily tallies in months.
Meanwhile, Israel's military announced on Saturday that it had “located a number of bodies during combat” in Gaza.
The army said it was trying to identify the bodies, including whether they were hostages, but said the process would take several hours. “We ask to refrain from spreading rumours,” an IDF spokesman added.
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