Gaza polio vaccination drive resumes as Israel continues attacks

WHO says six people, including four children, injured in strike on polio vaccination centre in northern Gaza.

United Nations agencies have begun a new phase of a polio vaccination campaign for children in northern Gaza amid concerns that Israeli attacks and access constraints could make it impossible to reach some areas.

The UN’s agency for children (UNICEF) reported on Saturday that the vaccination campaign against the virus – which can paralyse or even kill children – resumed in northern Gaza after multiple delays “despite extremely harsh conditions”.

The first phase began in September and reached more than 560,000 children aged over one day old and under 10. Authorities are now trying to administer a second and final dose of the oral vaccine.

“This polio campaign is critical, but while we protect children with vaccines, they will continue to die and suffer each day until there is a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire, which is needed more urgently than ever,” said UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees.

The UN said the aim of the second-round campaign in the north is to inoculate an estimated 119,000 children, but “achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints”.

UN agencies said 216 teams are now working across 106 fixed sites to offer the vaccine, including to Palestinians who have been newly displaced as a result of the expanding ground invasion of Israel in northern Gaza.

Despite extremely harsh conditions, the #Polio vaccination campaign resumed in the north of #Gaza today, carried out by the Palestinian MoH, @UNICEF, @WHOoPt, @UNRWA & partners.
⁰#ForEveryChild, Health
⁰Read our statement here: https://t.co/remo7UhXP2 pic.twitter.com/GrTi8kTCBQ

— UNICEF Palestine (@UNICEFpalestine) November 2, 2024

The situation in parts of northern Gaza has been described as “apocalyptic” by the UN as Israel continues to block humanitarian aid and continues to launch attacks from the ground, air and sea.

Multiple air strikes were reported in the north on Saturday, with one of the latest in the afternoon killing at least two people in Jabalia’s Naza area.

More than 43,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, with more than 101,800 people wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Strike hits vaccination centre

Later on Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said four children were injured in a strike on a polio vaccination centre in Gaza City.

“The Sheikh Radwan primary health care centre in northern Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the life-saving polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on X, without saying who had launched the strike.

“Six people, including four children, were injured,” he added.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said the centre was targeted with a sound bomb by an Israeli quadcopter.

“We know that when the Israelis fire sound bombs, or even live ammunition or bullets, there are a lot of fragments that fall after these attacks. At least three children were injured in this attack,” she said.

Khoudary said thousands of children are expected to miss out on the vaccine as Israeli attacks and troops are hindering authorities from reaching some areas in the north. Those include Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon, which have borne the brunt of the Israeli siege that has killed more than a thousand people in the past month.

Polio had been eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, but the destruction of the healthcare system in the enclave as a result of Israeli attacks triggered multiple health crises, which saw the virus spreading again.

A 10-month-old Palestinian baby was partly paralysed as a result of the virus earlier this year, prompting the rollout of the campaign.

But the campaign will not only benefit those inside the enclave, as authorities are also trying to prevent spread to neighbouring countries, including Israel.