‘Children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines’
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, has announced the launch of the polio vaccine campaign in north Gaza, saying it would last until September 12.
“Vaccines, finger markers and cold chain equipment were delivered to the north yesterday. Our team is trying to deliver more fuel to ensure vehicles used by vaccinators to reach the children remain functional, and hospitals can be resupplied to maintain essential services,” he said in a post on X.
He also called for maintaining humanitarian pauses and respecting the safety of health workers.
“The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines,” he said.
The #polio campaign in north #Gaza started this morning and is planned to continue until 12 September.
Vaccines, finger markers and cold chain equipment were delivered to the north yesterday. Our team is trying to deliver more fuel to ensure vehicles used by vaccinators to reach… pic.twitter.com/rwDZBDRsSI
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 10, 2024
Right groups, UN face obstruction in efforts to provide relief to Gaza
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi has said the United Nations and humanitarian organisations face “continuous obstruction and insecurity in their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the devastated population in Gaza”.
Hadi cited an incident yesterday in which a team of twelve UN staff members, whose movement was coordinated with the Israeli military, was stopped on its way to North Gaza to support the third phase of the Gaza Strip-wide polio vaccination campaign.
According to Hadi, soldiers pointed their weapons towards the convoy personnel. Then, they fired live shots, and tanks and bulldozers damaged UN vehicles, “endangering the lives of UN staff inside the vehicles”.
After seven and a half hours at the checkpoint, the convoy returned to base without being able to fulfil its humanitarian mission to support the polio campaign, Hadi added.
“This incident highlights the ongoing dangers and obstacles humanitarian personnel face in Gaza. Despite daily coordination of humanitarian movements with the Israeli [military], our staff and assets were not provided with sufficient protection, hindering our work. Under international humanitarian law, such protection is mandatory,” he said.
Denied requests doubled for aid trucks to reach northern Gaza: WHO
The number of requests for aid trucks to reach northern Gaza denied by the Israeli army doubled in August compared with previous months, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the WHO, told reporters in Geneva it was not an isolated incident.
“We have been trying to get to al-Shifa Hospital between September 7-10 for four times, and we were unable to. And we will try again today. So we really [are doing] our best, but this is a pattern,” he said.
Speaking at the same briefing, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said only 74 out of 208 attempts to reach the north in August were facilitated.
On Monday, Israeli forces stopped a convoy that included vehicles and fuel for the vaccination campaign, as well as a WHO team trying to get to al-Shifa Hospital and the mission had to be aborted, Jasarevic said.
UNRWA chief: Polio vaccination campaign continues ‘against all odds’
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, has given an update on today’s progress in the UN’s efforts to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s children against polio.
“Against all odds & despite the serious incident last night our UNRWA teams in Northern Gaza vaccinated 77,000 children against polio. We are inching closer towards the target of vaccinating every child under the age of 10”, he wrote on X.
The “serious incident” he referred to is yesterday’s detention of a UN convoy for hours by Israeli troops in northern Gaza. The convoy contained UN staff members involved in carrying out the vaccination dive.
“While this is good progress, civilians across Gaza continue to be killed on a daily basis including overnight in al-Mawassi which the Israeli authorities refer to as a ‘safe zone'”, Lazzarini added.
