A humanitarian pause in the fighting has been agreed to allow vaccination to resume in Gaza City, the WHO said. The action will last three days.
About 15,000 children under the age of 10 in northern Gaza towns such as Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun “continue to be out of reach” and will not be missed by the vaccination campaign, jeopardizing its effectiveness, the agency reports.
WHO intended to give 119,000 children in the area a second dose of polio vaccine.
The agency adds that achieving that goal is “now unlikely due to access restrictions.”
The first round of the vaccination campaign successfully reached 559,000 children under the age of 10 during three phases in southern, central and northern Gaza between September 1 and 12, during which there were local “humanitarian pauses” agreed by Israel and Palestinian groups.
However, the area agreed to in the latest humanitarian pause “has been significantly reduced” compared to the first round of vaccinations and is now limited to Gaza City, according to the WHO.
Since the beginning of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, medical experts have stressed that delays in administering the second dose could jeopardize the overall effort to stop the transmission of the contagious, potentially fatal disease.
At least 90% of all children must receive at least two doses to stop transmission.
Last week, the UN human rights chief said the “darkest moment” of the war in Gaza was unfolding in the north of the territory.
Hundreds of people were reportedly killed after the Israeli military launched a ground offensive on October 6 in Beit Lahia, as well as in neighboring Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, saying they were acting against a regrouping of Hamas militants.
At least 100,000 people were forced to evacuate from northern Gaza to Gaza City for safety reasons, the WHO said.
A joint statement by UN agencies, including the WHO, issued on Friday said the situation was “apocalyptic” and the entire Palestinian population in the area was “at immediate risk of death from disease, starvation and violence”.
According to UN estimates, about 100,000 residents remain in dire conditions, experiencing severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
USA warned Israel this week immediately increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as a the deadline is approaching increase aid or face cuts in US military aid. The US representative to the UN said on Tuesday that Israel’s words “must be accompanied by action”, which “is not happening”.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
More than 43,160 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
