UN organizations urged for two seven-day breaks in the war on Gaza in order to vaccinate over 640,000 children against polio, which has been found in wastewater.

The UN's health and children's organizations announced they had a plan to reach Palestinian children throughout the war-torn Strip, beginning later this month.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF, however, stated that this would necessitate a ceasefire. 

They stated that a two-round vaccination program against type 2 poliovirus (cVDPV2) would be launched in the Gaza Strip beginning in late August.

Hamas Political Bureau member Izzat al-Rishq instantly expressed the movement's support for the UN’s request for a 7-day truce in order to vaccinate thousands of children against polio, further highlighting the need to ensure the entry of medicine and food to more than two million Palestinians besieged in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza issued an urgent warning after tests conducted on sewage samples, in coordination with UNICEF, confirmed the presence of the poliovirus.

The alarming discovery highlights what the Ministry labeled as a "new health disaster" that comes amid the flow of contaminated water through the densely populated areas and displacement camps, where infrastructure has been severely damaged due to the relentless Israeli bombardment since October 7.

The WHO and UNICEF requested the humanitarian pauses be implemented "to allow for two rounds of vaccination campaigns to take place," allowing for "children and families to safely reach health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination."

The agencies warned that should no pause be implemented, "the delivery of the campaign will not be possible."

During each wave of the campaign, Gaza's Health Ministry and UN organizations would administer "two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to more than 640,000 children under 10 years of age." 

Polio, malnutrition tighten death grip on Gaza children

The number of cases of malnutrition among children in northern Gaza rose by almost 300% in July as compared to May, a report released last week by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) revealed.

It stated that 96% of Gaza's population suffers from crisis levels of hunger, citing data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the Global Nutrition Cluster.

Detected malnutrition cases among children in northern Gaza increased by more than 300% in July compared with May, says @GNCGENEVA.

96% of Gaza’s population faces crisis levels of hunger, according to @theIPCinfo. Gaza needs more aid and a #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/Pc382sW7Wr

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 8, 2024

The World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted about the levels of polio plaguing Gaza and said that the WHO, UNRWA, and UNICEF are preparing "two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns targeting 600,000 children under the age of 8."

"WHO is sending more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, which will be administered in the coming weeks," he affirmed.

The detection of #polio in wastewater in #Gaza is a tell-tale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk.

In coordination with the Ministry of Health, @WHO, @UNICEF, @UNRWA and partners are preparing two rounds of polio…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 7, 2024

The Director, however, asserted the need for "absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively."

"A ceasefire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio," he added.

Amid daily Israeli massacres, #Gaza has now declared the Strip a #polio epidemic zone, linking the outbreak to the ongoing siege and genocide.#GazaGenocide#Palestine pic.twitter.com/rZlZHC4MOJ

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 3, 2024