UN chief raises concern about postponement of 2nd-dose polio vaccination in Gaza amid Israeli assault

​​​​​​​By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday expressed concern about the postponement of a polio vaccination campaign for Palestinian children in the northern Gaza Strip amid an Israeli onslaught and siege.

"I am very concerned about the postponement of the latest phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as a result of escalating violence and a lack of access," Guterres wrote on X. “We must stop the polio outbreak before more children are paralyzed and poliovirus spreads further.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday the postponement of the second dose of the polio vaccination in Gaza.

It said the WHO, UNICEF, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and partners were “compelled to postpone” the third phase of the campaign “which was set to begin today.”

Phase one of the campaign, which concluded Sept. 12, included more than half a million Palestinian children.

The Israeli army stepped up its massive assault in northern Gaza amid a suffocating siege that has left tens of thousands without food and water.

The onslaught, which began Oct. 5, was the latest episode in Israel’s brutal onslaught that has killed nearly 42,800 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 100,400 since last year following a Hamas attack.

The onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.