An official in the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said on Monday evening that the Israeli army prevented a convoy belonging to the United Nations and the World Health Organization, carrying medicines and fuel, from entering the Gaza and North Governorates, refuting Israeli claims that a number of Palestinian suspects were inside.
The Director General of the Ministry, Munir Al-Barash, added that this ban comes for the fifth time in a week, explaining that the fuel carried by the convoy and which the occupation prevents from entering northern Gaza is allocated for the polio vaccination campaign.
He pointed out that obstructing the entry of this convoy would hinder the completion of the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza.
Earlier on Monday, the army said in a statement posted on its X platform account that its forces stopped a convoy of UN vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming that there were Palestinian suspects inside the convoy.
Israeli media, including the private Channel 12, reported earlier on Monday evening that the Israeli army had stopped a UN humanitarian convoy transporting polio vaccines in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming that there were suspects inside.
The Ministry of Health is scheduled to launch a polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza and North governorates on Tuesday morning, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNRWA.
On September 1, the vaccination campaign began, which the government media office said in a statement was supposed to benefit about 649,000 children. It was implemented in the central governorate and then moved to the governorates of Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south.
With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving more than 135,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.