Israel, Hamas agree to limited pauses in Gaza fighting to allow for polio vaccinations

NEWS WIRES

29 August 2024 at 3:56 pm·1-min read

Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's senior official for the Palestinian territories, said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to limited pauses in the fighting in Gaza to allow vaccinations against polio. Hamas said it is “ready to cooperate with international organisations to secure the campaign", according to a statement from Hamas’s political bureau. The urgent campaign comes after a 10-month-old Palestinian boy was partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus, having missed the chance to be vaccinated because he was born just before the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants and Israel's ensuing offensive.

The U.N. World Health Organization said Thursday it has reached an agreement with Israel for limited pauses in fighting in Gaza to allow for polio vaccinations for hundreds of thousands of children after a baby contracted the first confirmed case in 25 years in the Palestinian territory.

Described as “humanitarian pauses” that will last three days in different areas of the war-ravaged territory, the vaccination campaign will start Sunday in central Gaza, said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories.

Peeperkorn told reporters via video conference that they aim to vaccinate 640,000 children under 10 and that the campaign has been coordinated with Israeli authorities.

WHO said health workers need to vaccinate at least 90% of children in Gaza to stop the transmission of polio.

(AP)

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