Polio vaccinations have resumed in the Gaza Strip after a pause due to heavy fighting. On the first day of the new round of vaccinations, the WHO received a worrying report.
As the polio vaccination campaign continues in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) says it has received a report of an attack on a vaccination center. “Six people, including four children, were injured,” wrote the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on X. He did not initially say who was said to have attacked the medical center on Saturday. There was a tactical ceasefire in the area due to the ongoing vaccination campaign.
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip said at least three children were injured. Accordingly, the attack is said to have come from Israel’s army. The information could not initially be independently verified.
A spokesman for the Israeli military wrote on X that Israel’s army was aware of reports of Palestinian injuries at the vaccination center. Contrary to the claims, an initial check showed that the Israeli army was not attacking in the area at the time of the incident.
There was initially no statement from Hamas about the incident.
A WHO team was on site shortly before the incident, Tedros said. “This attack during the humanitarian pause threatens the sanctity of children’s health and could deter parents from taking their children for vaccination,” the WHO chief warned.
The vaccination campaign in the northern part of the Gaza Strip was interrupted in October due to heavy fighting. Vaccinations in the affected medical center continued, medical sources in the Gaza Strip said.
