Gaza health officials announced Monday that Israeli airstrikes over the preceding 24 hours resulted in the deaths of at least 48 Palestinians across the region. The Israeli military carried out the strikes amid a polio vaccination campaign conducted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The campaign was put into motion following the confirmation of Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years. The vaccination effort, aimed at reaching over 600,000 children under the age of 10 across the Gaza Strip, has been organized into three-day phases running from September 1 to September 12. The first phase took place in the central Deir Al-Balah region from September 1 to 4. The second phase is set to begin in the southern Khan Younis region from September 5 to 8, followed by the final phase in Gaza City and northern Gaza from September 9 to 12. Additionally, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah has published maps showing the locations of each vaccination center, ensuring that the campaign effectively reached the most affected areas.
The campaign was bolstered by the delivery of 1.26 million doses of vaccines, as reported by the World Health Organization, aimed at stopping cVDPV2 transmission. The vaccines and cold chain equipment were expected to transit through Ben Gurion Airport before arriving in Gaza by the end of August. Ensuring timely reception, clearance, and delivery of these supplies was crucial for the campaign’s success.
The WHO has emphasized the need for humanitarian pauses to facilitate effective vaccination efforts, warning that “Without humanitarian pauses, the campaign – a massive task in any setting, let alone after more than 10 months of heavy fighting, mass casualties and displacement together with disease spread – will not be possible.”
Speaking from Gaza, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn welcomed a preliminary commitment from the Israeli military to implement “area-specific humanitarian pauses” during the vaccination campaign. “We call on all parties to pause fighting to allow children and families to safely access health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination,” he said.
Despite the intense conflict, the vaccination campaign has made notable progress. On the first day of the polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza, the initiative began with a goal of targeting 156,500 children under the age of 10. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), UNRWA teams and their partners successfully administered the polio vaccine to approximately 87,000 children.
As the campaign entered its second day on September 2, Louise Wateridge, Senior Communications Officer for UNRWA, stated, “There were 87,000 vaccinated on the first day out of 156,000 that we are hoping to reach in the Middle Area.” She also noted, “It’s very promising that already, we have heard interest from parents who have come from Khan Younis, who have come from the southern area, and are asking our staff there and asking our teams, ‘When is the vaccination going to be available for us? When can we take our children?’
According to the UN Security Council, safeguarding civilians, particularly children remains a core obligation under IHL, and facilitating access to medical services is crucial. Under customary international humanitarian law, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Rule 55, parties to the conflict must allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to citizens in need. Additionally, the Fourth Geneva Convention imposes an obligation on an occupying power to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the population in occupied territories
