Israel’s intensified bombardment of northern Gaza \u2013 which according to Palestinian officials has killed or wounded more than 1,700 people since early October \u2013 has forced a halt to the third phase of a polio vaccination campaign scheduled to begin Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“Due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza<\/a>, the Polio Technical Committee for Gaza \u2013 including the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine<\/a> Refugees (UNRWA), and partners \u2013 have been compelled to postpone the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign, which was set to begin today,” WHO said in a statement<\/a> Wednesday. “This final phase of the ongoing campaign aimed to vaccinate 119,279 children across northern Gaza.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and health workers to operate,” the agency continued.<\/p>\n I am very concerned about the postponement of the latest phase of the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as a result of escalating violence & a lack of access.<\/p>\n We must stop the polio outbreak before more children are paralyzed and poliovirus spreads further.<\/p>\n — Ant\u00f3nio Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n