The UN says a polio vaccination campaign to inoculate more than 640,000 children in Gaza has exceeded its target in the first phase of the program. In a rare bright spot in nearly 11 months of war, Unicef said 189,000 children have been reached so far with more than 500 teams deployed across Gaza this week.
While Israel and Hamas are observing a limited pause in fighting to facilitate the campaign, the UN agencies involved now hope to expand the campaign to the worst-affected northern and southern areas in the next two phases.
The campaign was launched after Gaza reported its first case of polio in 25 years, a 10-month-old boy whose legs are now paralyzed. Health experts have warned of an outbreak of the disease in the region, where many have been displaced multiple times and famine is rampant.
Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into squalid tents and few public services are available. Vaccinations continue even as fighting continues in Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said 42 people had been killed in the past 24 hours and 40,861 people have been killed since the war began.
‘Major progress! Every day in Central #Gaza, more children are getting the Polio vaccine,’ Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s main agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote in X on Wednesday (4/9), as reported by the Guardian on Thursday (5/9).
Despite the success of the polio campaign, diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire, release hostages held in Gaza and repatriate many Palestinians imprisoned by Israel have failed. “While this polio ‘pause’ has provided some respite for the population, what is urgently needed is a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a standard flow of humanitarian supplies including medical and hygiene supplies.” [ke Gaza],” added Lazzarini.
Read also: UNRWA Begins Polio Vaccination in Gaza
Ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israeli troops will remain in the Philadelphi corridor on Gaza’s southern edge bordering Egypt, a major sticking point in reaching a deal. But Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer suggested that Israel might be prepared for a full IDF withdrawal in the second phase of negotiations of any agreement reached.
Dermer added that in the first phase, Israel will remain on that path until it has a practical solution that can convince the Israeli people. So that what happened on October 7 will not happen again. That Hamas will not get any more weapons supplies.
Also read: Palestine Holds Polio Vaccination for 640 Thousand Children in Gaza
“And once you complete those negotiations, while you are in the first phase of the ceasefire, to get to the second phase and a permanent ceasefire, that is when you can discuss long-term security arrangements in the corridors of Philadelphia,” he said.
Hamas says such conditions, among other things, would prevent a deal from being reached. Netanyahu says the war can only end if Hamas is eliminated. The impasse has frustrated Israel’s international allies and the 15-member U.N. security council, where Slovenia took the presidency in September.
Slovenia’s UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar said patience was running out and the global body might consider taking action if a ceasefire could not be brokered soon. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the only way a deal could be reached was if Israel agreed to the US proposal by July 2, which was backed by the security council and accepted by the group.
Also read: The Suffering of a Mother in Gaza Because Her Baby Has Polio
Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the failure to reach a deal. On Wednesday, German government spokesman Wolfgang Buchner said the killing of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were found over the weekend made it clear that a ceasefire that would allow the release of all hostages held by Hamas must now be approved as a priority.
Other considerations must be put aside. He called on all parties involved in the talks to show flexibility and a willingness to compromise, and an agreement could also help ease regional tensions. But a new poll released this week found Israelis are deeply pessimistic about whether a deal can be brokered, amid nationwide anger at the Israeli government over Netanyahu’s handling of the hostage negotiations.
In its monthly poll, the Israel Democracy Institute found that 73% of respondents described themselves as pessimistic about the deal’s chances of success, while only 21% said they were optimistic. (I-2)
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