Israel agrees ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza to allow polio vaccinations

Israel has agreed to a series of three-day “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow UN health officials to administer polio vaccinations in the territory, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

“The way we discussed and agreed, the campaign will start on the first of September, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency’s representative for Palestinian territories.

The vaccination rollout will also cover southern and northern Gaza, which will each get their own three-day pauses, Peeperkorn told reporters, adding that Israel had agreed to allow an additional day if required.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday night the new measures were “not a ceasefire.”

Hamas said it supports the “UN humanitarian truce.”

The United States and European Union have both voiced concern over polio in Gaza, after the first case there in 25 years was confirmed this month in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby.

UN agencies have said they plan to provide oral vaccines against type-2 poliovirus (cVDPV2) to more than 640,000 children in the territory.

Poliovirus is highly infectious and most often spread through sewage and contaminated water — an increasingly common problem in Gaza with much of the territory’s infrastructure destroyed by Israel in its war against Hamas.

The disease mainly affects children under the age of five. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal.