This is the fifth time in one week that Israel has denied entry to a UN convoy, and if this continues it will interrupt the polio vaccination campaign in the north of Gaza.
The Israeli occupation army has denied entry to the north of the Gaza Strip to a United Nations convoy transporting medicine and fuel aimed for the ongoing polio vaccination campaign, according to Anadolu news agency.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced Monday evening that the convoy was aimed to arrive in the north of the besieged Strip, including the Gaza and Northern Gaza Governorates, for the final stage of the polio campaign, which is supposed to start on Tuesday.
“The fuel that the convoy is holding that is being barred by the (Israeli) occupation from entering northern Gaza is allocated for the (polio) vaccination campaign in northern Gaza,” Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, confirmed to Anadolu.
Israel Impedes Entry of Polio Vaccination Teams into Southern Gaza – Health Ministry
According to the Palestinian physician, this is the fifth time in one week that Israel has denied entry to a UN convoy, warning that if this continues it will interrupt the polio vaccination campaign in the north of Gaza.
This comes amidst confirmation by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) that the Gaza and North governorates are facing an acute shortage in fuel supplies required “to operate ambulances, emergency medical clinics and relief services”, risking a complete halt in medical services, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
The Israeli occupation army claimed earlier on Monday that it prevented a UN convoy from entering the north of Gaza for allegedly hiding Palestinian suspects in one of the convoy’s vehicles.
Systematic Obstruction Policy
On September 5, Israel refused to coordinate the entry of medical teams for polio vaccination in areas east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Gaza’s Health Ministry has said.
The area contains “a large percentage of the target group of children,” the ministry noted in a statement.
The ministry appealed to relevant institutions “to urgently intervene to ensure the success of the vaccination campaign by reaching all children wherever they are.”
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Polio Campaign
The Palestinian Ministry of Health declared Gaza a polio epidemic zone at the end of July, and on August 16 confirmed the first case of polio in a 10-month-old child.
On the same date, the World Health Organization (WHO) said “three children presenting with suspected acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), a common symptom of polio, have since been reported in the Gaza Strip.”
On August 23, the WHO confirmed that the baby had developed paralysis in one leg, after contracting the Type 2 poliovirus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The organization mentioned that the re-emergence of polio in Gaza was primarily due to the collapse of the health system and widespread environmental destruction.
In 2022, polio vaccination rates in Gaza were “optimal,” at around 99 percent, the organization said, adding that by early 2024, those rates had dropped to below 90 percent.
The vaccination campaign is executed in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
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Gaza’s Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,988 Palestinians have been killed, and 94,825 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu, WAFA)
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