On August 29, the World Health Organization announced that it has received a “preliminary commitment” from Israel to a series of limited “humanitarian pauses” in order to allow for polio vaccinations to be carried out in Gaza. The pauses would begin on September 1 and be split into three separate 3-day phases.
On August 16, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that a 10-month-old baby in Gaza had been infected with polio, Gaza’s first case of polio in 25 years. This announcement raised alarms about the effects of war on conditions of disease and starvation, which could lead to upwards of 186,000 deaths, as estimated by a letter published in The Lancet last month. Since October 7, Gaza’s near-universal polio vaccination coverage has dropped to 80%.
Some experts are unconvinced that such a pause would be enough to carry out a comprehensive vaccination campaign. Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative for the West Bank and Gaza, said that three days “might not be enough to achieve adequate vaccination.” According to Peeperkorn, it “has been agreed, when needed, the campaign will be extended by one day per zone, or even more when necessary.”
Mukesh Kapila, a doctor who was formerly a United Nations staffer, told Al Jazeera that “almost certainly, three days are not going to be enough.” People in Gaza “will not trust what’s going on because they’ve already been bombed despite being assured of their safety,” he emphasized. “That’s why I hope very much that people are not fixated with the three-day period, but they allow a decent amount of time to get the job done.”
Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack humanitarian organizations. The UN’s World Food Program had to suspend staff movement in Gaza after its “clearly marked UN humanitarian vehicle” was hit by Israeli bullets at least 10 times at a military checkpoint.
