By Yakoota Al Ahmad
ISTANBUL (AA) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) called Monday for “humanitarian pauses” to provide children in the Gaza Strip with a second dose of polio vaccines.
Around 560,000 Palestinian children under 10 received the first dose as part of a polio vaccination campaign on Sept. 1-12, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“UNRWA and partners vaccinated hundreds of thousands of children, reaching 90% vaccination coverage,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini posted on X.
“Our next challenge is to provide children with their second dose at the end of September,” he said.
The UNRWA chief said the first phase of the polio vaccination campaign showed that “when there is a political will, assistance can be provided without disruption.”
“While new pauses will be needed to undertake the campaign safely, what people in Gaza urgently need, wherever they are is cease-fire now.”
On multiple occasions, the Israeli army halted UN vehicles carrying vaccines and fuel amid its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire to allow the vaccination of 640,000 children. The appeal followed the detection of the first confirmed polio case in Gaza.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
More than 41,200 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul