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Gaza’s civil defence says its ambulances are deteriorating
A spokesman for the group, which is one of the main emergency response organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, says Israel’s targeted attacks on its ambulances and a lack of spare parts for repairs are leading to the degradation of its fleet of vehicles, including fire trucks.
“The [Israeli] occupation targeted and destroyed all shops, especially in Gaza [City] and the north, which the Civil Defense relied on to provide the spare parts needed for its work”, Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.
He called on the UN’s World Health Organization to intervene and provide the group with the spare parts it needs to carry out its life-saving operations in the Strip.
Meanwhile, Israel’s blockade of Gaza continues, with an official from the UN telling Al Jazeera yesterday that the amount of aid Israel lets in to the Strip is at its lowest level in months.
Mother of baby with polio in Gaza pleads for medical care
The mother of a 10-month-old baby who has been diagnosed with Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years, says her child should be given treatment abroad.
“I was shocked that my son got this disease amid the war and the closure of border crossings, under these conditions and lack of medicine,” Abu al-Jidyan told Reuters news agency.
“Would he remain like this?” she asked of her child, who has been partially paralysed by the disease.
“He is my only baby boy. It’s his right to travel and be treated; it’s his right to walk, run and move like before … It is unfair that he stays thrown in the tent without care or attention,” she said from a tent in Deir el-Balah.
EU urges ‘immediate humanitarian pauses’ for Gaza polio vaccinations
The European Union has called for “immediate humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow for a critical vaccination campaign against polio, according to a statement from the EU High Representative’s Office.
“It is alarming that poliovirus was detected and that the first case was confirmed there again in July affecting children,” the statement said.
This follows a recent announcement from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which confirmed the first polio case in the region in 25 years involving a 10-month-old baby in Deir el-Balah.
The EU statement said the bloc “welcomes the delivery of more than 1.2 million oral polio vaccines as well as the cooperation by Israel in delivering the vaccines to Gaza, and underlines the importance of further cooperation by all sides with WHO, UNRWA and UNICEF to conduct the vaccination rollout”.
The aim of the campaign is to vaccinate about 640,000 children under the age of 10.
