By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 16 August 2024
Edit Thread

Hamas supports UN request for humanitarian pause for polio vaccinations

The Palestinian armed group supports the UN request for a seven-day humanitarian pause to vaccinate children against polio, a member of the group’s political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, says in a statement.

The World Health Organization says it needs to carry out two rounds of a polio vaccination campaign to prevent the virus from circulating rapidly.

On July 30, the Health Ministry in Gaza declared the Palestinian territory to be a “polio epidemic zone”, blaming the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s 10-month military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.


UN chief says humanitarian pauses vital for polio vaccination campaign in Gaza

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that preventing and containing the spread of polio in the enclave will take a massive and urgent coordinated effort.

“Let’s be clear. The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres told at the UN. “But in any case, a polio pause is a must. It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over.”

Guterres said the UN is poised to launch a polio vaccine campaign in Gaza for children under the age of 10, but said the “challenges are grave”.

At least 95 percent vaccination coverage will be needed during each of the two rounds of the campaign to prevent polio’s spread and reduce its emergence given the devastation in Gaza, Guterres said. He added that a successful campaign will require the facilitation of transport for vaccines and refrigeration equipment at every step, the entry of polio experts into Gaza, reliable internet and phone services, and other elements.

Gaza’s Health Ministry declared a polio epidemic in the Palestinian enclave last month, blaming Israel’s continuing military offensive.


Health ministry records first confirmed case of polio in Gaza

The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that it has detected the first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip in the city of Deir el-Balah for a 10-month-old baby who had not received any polio vaccination dose.

The United Nations says Gaza had been free from polio for 25 years. The Health Ministry has blamed the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s 10-month military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.

The UN had earlier called for pauses in fighting to carry out a polio vaccination campaign as the disease was likely spreading among displaced people.

Activists prepare to defy Israeli naval blockade of Gaza

Peace activists from several countries are setting out on a converted trawler to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“The purpose of this mission is to send a message that civil society is not OK with what’s happening in Gaza,” Fellipe Lopes, the Portuguese media coordinator of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on board the ship Handala told Reuters during a stopover in Malta.

It will be a trip fraught with danger. Israeli forces killed nine activists when they stopped and boarded another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010.

“We expect to encounter resistance throughout our mission,” said Australian activist Michael Coleman.

“Ours is not an illegal activity in any shape or form. The International Court of Justice has asked them to grant unfettered access to aid into Gaza and I implore them to let us and other aids through immediately,” he said.

The trip along the Eastern Mediterranean to Gaza will take a week but organisers said they might stop over in another harbour on the way.


Activists wash the deck of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship Handala as they prepare to sail for Gaza