Israel to Pause Gaza Fighting for Polio Vaccinations, U.N. Reports

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it has secured an agreement with Israel to allow limited pauses in fighting in Gaza. This initiative aims to facilitate polio vaccinations for hundreds of thousands of children following the first documented case of the disease in 25 years within the territory.

Starting Sunday, September 1, health officials will commence the vaccination campaign in central Gaza. A “humanitarian pause” lasting from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be instituted for three days, with the possibility of extending it for an additional day if necessary, as stated by Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories.

The vaccination effort, coordinated with Israeli authorities, will later expand to southern and northern Gaza, adopting similar pause measures. Peeperkorn emphasized that while this strategy may not be perfect, it presents a viable path forward.

This campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10, with each child receiving two drops of the oral polio vaccine across two separate rounds—one dose followed by another four weeks later.

Peeperkorn highlighted the importance of these pauses, stating that they are essential to ensure families can bring their children for vaccinations and return home safely by 3 p.m. “We have an agreement on that, so we expect that all parties will adhere to it,” he asserted.

To effectively halt the transmission of polio, the WHO estimates that at least 90% of children in Gaza must be vaccinated. The operation will enlist over 2,100 health staff from UN agencies and the Gaza Ministry of Health, who will work at hundreds of vaccination sites and deploy mobile teams across the region.

It is crucial to note that these humanitarian pauses do not amount to a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a solution that the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been advocating through ongoing negotiations.

Hamas has expressed its willingness to collaborate with international organizations to support the vaccination campaign, according to Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau.

An unnamed Israeli official had indicated prior to the announcement of the plan that a tactical pause was likely in order to facilitate the vaccinations. Israel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday, but the Israeli army has previously announced limited pauses to conduct humanitarian operations.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N., Robert Wood, urged Israel to avoid issuing more evacuation orders during these pauses, stressing that workers require safety to carry out the vaccination initiative. He stated, “It is especially important for Israel to ensure access for agencies working on the vaccination campaign and to maintain periods of calm during the campaign.”

The urgency of this vaccination campaign follows the case of a 10-month-old boy, Abdel-Rahman Abu El-Jedian, who was partially paralyzed after contracting a mutated strain of the virus linked to the oral vaccine. The child missed his vaccinations because he was born just before the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, during which Hamas attacked Israel, prompting a major military response from Israel.

The child’s mother, Neveen Abu El Jidyan, expressed her frustration to CBS News, lamenting the dire conditions in the tent where they currently reside due to the ongoing conflict. “We haven’t given him any treatments. We live in a tent and there is no medication,” she said.

Neveen, who has nine other children, was compelled to relocate her family from northern Gaza to a tent in Deir el-Balah amid the war. She recounted how her son had been developing normally until he suddenly fell ill. “I took him to the hospital, and they told me there is nothing they can do. They know his condition, but there is no treatment,” she added, highlighting the drastic changes his health underwent in just one night.

The mother attributed her son’s illness to the unsanitary conditions they must endure. “Our living conditions — we don’t have clean water, clean food. We live in a tent and nothing is clean here,” she shared.

Polio has largely been eradicated in most regions globally, thanks to a prolonged effort led by the WHO and its partners. However, healthcare professionals in Gaza have been raising alarms over the potential for a polio outbreak, exacerbated by the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Displaced families often reside in congested tent camps situated amidst refuse and unsanitary wastewater, which aid workers describe as hotspots for diseases like polio that spread through contaminated fecal matter.

The strain of polio affecting the 10-month-old boy emerged from a weakened virus previously included in the oral vaccine but was removed from the vaccine in 2016 to prevent outbreaks. Public health authorities recognized that this decision left individuals vulnerable to this specific strain, with experts deeming the situation a significant failure of public health policy.