'Israel' preventing WHO to enter North Gaza for polio vax campaign
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The World Health Organization reiterates urgent calls for the Israeli occupation to permit vaccinations for children against polio in northern Gaza.
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Displaced infant Abdel-Rahman Abu El-Jedian, who suffers from polio, sleeps at a makeshift tent camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on August 27, 2024. (AP)
"Israel" is preventing World Health Organization (WHO) staff from entering the northern Gaza Strip to vaccinate children against polio, confirmed Rick Brennan, the Regional Emergency Director for the agency's Eastern Mediterranean office.
At a press conference in Qatar, Brennan announced that the WHO has successfully vaccinated children under 10 against polio in the central and southern Gaza Strip, and is now planning to organize a new round of vaccinations.
However, the WHO has not yet received permission for staff to enter northern Gaza, Brennan said on Thursday.
Earlier on Friday, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in the Strip reported that the Israeli occupation heavily shelled various parts of northern Gaza throughout the night.
Our correspondent stressed that the occupation forces were preventing essential aid trucks and deliveries from entering the North, as well as impeding rescue and medical operations for Palestinians injured in the aggression.
As the siege on northern Gaza continues for the 14th consecutive day, tragedies continue to unfold across the Strip, during which residents are deprived of access to basic needs for survival.
US' baseless and empty statements continue
It is worth noting that on Tuesday, Israeli media reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, warning of a potential arms embargo on "Israel" if the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is not addressed within a month.
The following day, Axios reported that Israeli officials "pledged" to improve the humanitarian situation in the region. However, the ongoing siege and starvation policies against the Strip stand as a testament to the baseless pledges and statements.
As the US pressures "Israel" to improve the humanitarian situation, allegedly threatening an arms embargo a year after the onset of the war against the Strip, it paradoxically continues to send billions in arms aid, effectively funding the ongoing genocide.
On that note, a senior US official working on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza said on Thursday that the US would not consider withholding weapons from the Israeli occupation to force its hand to allow aid into the Strip, Politico reported, even as the Israeli government continues to block essential aid such as food and medicine from entering the besieged Palestinian territory.
Lise Grande, who leads US humanitarian efforts in Gaza, told aid group leaders in an August 29 meeting attended by over a dozen humanitarian organizations that while the US might explore diplomatic tactics through the United Nations to pressure the Israeli occupation into allowing life-saving aid into Gaza, the Biden administration would continue its support for the regime and would not delay or stop weapons shipments, multiple attendees told Politico.
'Israel's' genocide tactics
Last month, the Israeli occupation forces seized a United Nations convoy after stopping it at gunpoint for over eight hours, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
On September 10, a UN convoy transporting national and international staffers to launch the polio vaccination campaign for children in northern Gaza was stopped at gunpoint despite prior coordination with the occupation forces.
"The convoy was stopped at gunpoint just after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN staff. Heavy damage was caused by bulldozers to the UN armored vehicles," Lazzarini said in a post on X. He added that the UN staffers were all released from Israeli detention and returned to their base, leaving the polio campaign pending.
