CAIRO: Ahead of the scheduled launch of a polio vaccination program, Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday resulted in the deaths of at least 48 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
According to plans, the UN will begin immunizing about 640,000 youngsters in the region against polio, depending on eight-hour intervals every day between Israeli attacks in particular parts of the besieged enclave.
The deputy minister of health for Gaza, Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, stated that while immunization teams will make every effort to reach as many communities as possible to guarantee widespread coverage, only a total truce could ensure that enough children be covered.
At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, he told reporters, “If the international community truly wants this campaign to succeed, it should call for a ceasefire, knowing that this virus does not stop, and can reach anywhere.”
The deputy health minister of Gaza thinks that a truce should be called for if the international community genuinely wants this campaign to succeed.
Before the formal campaign starts, doctors gave vaccinations to a few kids in Nasser Hospital wards on Saturday.
The campaign comes after it was confirmed last week that the type 2 polio virus partially paralyzed a baby—the first incidence of that kind in the region in 25 years.
According to WHO authorities, in order for the campaign to be successful, at least 90% of youngsters must receive two vaccinations, separated by four weeks, but Gaza presents significant obstacles.
Israeli strikes killed at least 19 people on Saturday, including nine members of the same family, according to doctors in Nuseirat, one of the eight historic refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, as more than 2,000 medical professionals and community volunteers got ready for the campaign to begin.
According to doctors, a string of strikes in various parts of Gaza claimed the lives of around thirty more persons.
According to the Israeli military, operations in the center and southern Gaza Strip are still ongoing. In Khan Yunis, however, people went back to their homes following the army’s termination of a 22-day campaign that it claimed was meant to keep Hamas from reorganizing.
At least nine bodies were found in the area where the army conducted operations, according to medics.
There was footage of buildings and infrastructure being destroyed, as well as entire areas being leveled.
According to the local health ministry, Israel’s attack on the Hamas-governed enclave has resulted in the deaths of over 40,600 Palestinians in the last 11 months.
There is a hunger crisis in Gaza, where there are around 2.3 million displaced people living in the territory. The International Court of Justice’s decision opens the door to accusations of genocide against Israel.
Israel soldiers continued their military campaign in the city of Jenin, located in the occupied West Bank. Helicopters and drones flew over the city, and gunfire could be heard sometimes.
