"Israel's" daily bombardment and destruction of Gaza's infrastructure are behind the poliovirus outbreak in the Strip, Doctors Without Borders said, urging for an immediate ceasefire.

“The resurgence of polio in Gaza is a consequence of the continuous destruction of the infrastructure and health system by Israeli forces,” the medical humanitarian organization said in a statement on Monday.

“The war has destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure, forced people into unhygienic and appalling living conditions, and disrupted routine vaccinations—perfect conditions for diseases like polio to spread,” it added.

The statement from the organization, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), comes after the occupation agreed to eight-hour "humanitarian pauses" on designated sites in Gaza to enable vaccination campaigns for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children. 

The pauses began on Sunday and are expected to last for three days, and the vaccination campaigns aim to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10. Similar pauses will also occur in southern Gaza and northern Gaza.

The MSF described the vaccination initiatives as a "positive step," while highlighting “it is still a drop in the ocean compared to people's critical medical humanitarian needs.”

The organization also called for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire to ensure people in Gaza have proper access to aid and health care.”

Related News

MSF accuses 'Israel' of ethnic cleansing, calls for ceasefire in Gaza

MSF Denmark urges government to allow treatment of Gaza's injured

“The campaign and announcement of military pauses during the vaccination campaign should not divert attention from the relentless violence and its impact on the delivery of humanitarian aid,” MSF stated, emphasizing that “fewer than half of the hospitals in Gaza (16 of 36) are operational while people’s medical needs are greater than ever.”

The aid group reported its teams are providing logistical and organizational assistance to Gaza’s Health Ministry and the United Nations' vaccination campaign at five healthcare facilities in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Polio resurgence threatens Gaza's children amid genocide

The first polio case was reported last week in a 10-month-old boy who is now paralyzed in one leg. He had not received any of the routine childhood vaccinations due to the ongoing Israeli carnage. According to the WHO, it is likely that hundreds of other people are already infected but asymptomatic, which poses a significant risk to hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza.

A highly complex vaccination campaign, led by the UN and local health authorities, is now underway to prevent the resurgence of polio in a new generation.

To stop the spread of the disease, at least 90% of Gaza’s 640,000 children under 10 need to be vaccinated with two drops of oral vaccine in two rounds, four weeks apart—a challenging goal in an active war zone where conditions are unpredictable.

A temporary pause in fighting from 6 am to 3 pm over the next few days has been reportedly agreed on to allow vaccination teams to visit 160 sites, starting in central Gaza and then moving to more difficult-to-reach areas. However, damaged or destroyed roads hinder the movement of healthcare workers, and aid workers and supplies have been targeted by Israeli bombings.

Last week, "Israel" killed four people in an airstrike that hit the front of a convoy carrying food and fuel to a hospital in Rafah, according to the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) group.

The Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the “best vaccine” for Gaza's children is “peace", coinciding with the launch of a polio vaccination campaign, Anadolu Agency reported.

“Children in Gaza are receiving much-needed polio vaccines today. Ultimately, the best vaccine for these children is peace,” Ghebreyesus said on X.