By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Multibagger) - The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began to vaccinate 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with Israel and Hamas agreeing to brief pauses in their 11-month war to allow the campaign to go ahead.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The campaign began on Sunday in areas of central Gaza, and will move to other areas in coming days. Fighting will pause for at least eight hours on three consecutive days.
The WHO said the pauses will likely need to extend to a fourth day and the first round of vaccinations will take just under two weeks.
'COMPLEX' CAMPAIGN
"This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world," said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.
"Today is test time for parties to the conflict to respect these area pauses to allow the UNRWA teams and other medical workers to reach children with these very precious two drops. It’s a race against time," Touma told Multibagger.
Israel and Hamas, who have so far failed to conclude a deal that would end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.
WHO officials say at least 90% of the children need to be vaccinated twice with four weeks between doses for the campaign to succeed, but it faces huge challenges in Gaza, which has been largely destroyed by the war.
"Children continue to be exposed, it knows no borders, checkpoints or lines of fighting. Every child must be vaccinated in Gaza and Israel to curb the risks of this vicious disease spreading," said Touma.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to battle Hamas-led militants in several areas across the Palestinian enclave. Residents said Israeli army troops blew up several houses in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, while tanks continued to operate in the northern Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun.
On Sunday, Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in southern Gaza where they were apparently killed not long before Israeli troops reached them, the military said.
The war was triggered after Hamas militants on Oct. 7 stormed into southern Israel killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages by Israeli tallies.
Since then, at least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Gaza, the enclave's health ministry says.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Analysis:
The United Nations has launched a critical vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip amidst a fragile agreement between Israel and Hamas to pause their 11-month war. The campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children to combat the polio virus, which has resurfaced in the region after 25 years. However, the challenges are immense due to the ongoing conflict and destruction in Gaza.
It is crucial for both sides to respect the brief pauses in fighting to allow medical workers to reach vulnerable children. The success of this campaign relies on vaccinating at least 90% of children twice, with four weeks between doses. Failure to do so could lead to the spread of this dangerous disease across borders.
Despite the ongoing battle between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants, cooperation is essential to ensure the safety and health of the innocent children in Gaza. This situation highlights the urgency of addressing health crises even in the midst of conflicts, as the consequences can be devastating.