The deal provides for temporary pauses in different areas of Gaza with the aim of vaccinating 640,000 children under the age of 10.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it has received a “preliminary commitment” to allow temporary “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to distribute polio vaccines, as deteriorating conditions caused by the Israeli war fuel the spread of disease and illness across the besieged strip.
Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territory, said on Thursday that the three breaks will take place from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. (3 a.m. to 12 p.m. GMT) and will last three days each in different areas of Gaza, starting on Sunday.
“I’m not going to say it’s the ideal path to go. But it’s a feasible path,” Peeperkorn said. “It’s going to happen and it should happen because we have an agreement.”
Aid and medical groups have said Israel’s nearly 11-month assault on Gaza has displaced nearly the entire population and created unsanitary conditions that have allowed disease to flourish.
Abdel-Rahman Abu El-Jedian, a 10-month-old Palestinian baby, became partially paralyzed this week after contracting polio, a disease that had not been present in Gaza for 25 years.
Peeperkorn said the campaign will aim to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10.
“The deal came after intense pressure from UN and US officials, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken also calling on Israel to authorize the campaign,” Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent Kristen Saloomey reported from the United Nations in New York.
“Vaccinations will begin in central Gaza, then continue in southern Gaza for three days, and then in northern Gaza for three days. Israeli authorities have assured them that if they fail to administer as many doses as needed during these three days, they will also be given an additional day in each of these locations,” she added.
Palestinian group Hamas told Reuters news agency it welcomed the news and would work with international organisations to facilitate the campaign’s success.
Israeli authorities said Wednesday that the vaccinations would be carried out in coordination with the Israeli military “as part of routine humanitarian pauses that will allow the population to reach medical centers where the vaccines will be administered.”
Aid groups have accused Israel of systematically dismantling medical infrastructure and targeting aid workers in Gaza throughout the conflict.