UN agencies and partners in the Strip will continue to vaccinate “as many children in Gaza as possible” during agreed humanitarian pauses, before moving north to the war-torn enclave, UNRWA added.
Thousands of families flocked to health centres to receive their doses from UN medical teams, UNRWA said. In southern Gaza, more than 152,000 children were vaccinated in the city of Khan Younis, nearly 8,800 in Rafah and another 1,000 elsewhere in the south.
This promising development follows the successful completion of the first phase of the vaccination campaign in central Gaza earlier this week, with more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 receiving polio protection. To date, combined coverage in central and southern Gaza stands at 354,786 children.
340,000 people need vaccines in the south
In total, aid teams aim to reach 340,000 children in southern Gaza by Saturday, either in schools, health centres or by going from shop to shop.
A third and final phase is scheduled to begin in northern Gaza on Monday 9 September for three days, targeting some 150,000 children, with the entire exercise to be repeated in four weeks.
Once completed, some 640,000 young people will have received two drops of the new oral polio vaccine type 2 in each of the two phases, after the highly transmissible virus re-emerged in Gaza in June after 25 years.
The campaign is led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNRWA, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other humanitarian partners.
Ban on international media remains in effect
Nearly 11 months after the start of the war sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks against multiple targets in Israel, Israeli authorities are still preventing international media crews from entering Gaza.
“It is common for international journalists to cover conflicts and wars,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, urging international media to push harder to gain access to the enclave and report freely.
“Palestinian journalists have my admiration. They continue to carry the torch even though too many of them have been killed. They need the support of their colleagues,” he said.
Wennesland: Stop the violence in the West Bank
As the war continues to rage in Gaza, ongoing deadly clashes in the occupied West Bank that have left two Palestinian children dead in Jenin and Tulkarem have been condemned by the UN's top representative for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland.
“I am shocked by the tragic murder of two children in the past two days at the hands of Israeli security forces during military operations in Jenin and Tulkarem,” he said in an online post on Thursday.
“I call for an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents, underlining the urgent need for accountability and justice to ensure the protection of all civilians. Every child's life is precious, and the loss of so many young lives serves as a grim reminder that decisive action must be taken now to stop the violence.“
Echoing that message, UNRWA reported that violence and destruction are “increasing by the hour” in the West Bank.
Last week was the deadliest for Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since November last year, with seven children among the many killed, according to the UN agency.
“This is unacceptable. It must end now,” UNRWA insisted in X.
The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, also reported that medical facilities have been under virtual siege for more than a week, with severe restrictions on the movement of ambulances and medical personnel.
Humanitarian needs are growing amid rising insecurity and excessive use of force, he added.
