WHO Says Hamas-Israel Agrees Three-Day Ceasefire For Polio Vaccination In Gaza

Transportation of humanitarian aid for Gaza, including logistics for polio vaccination in Gaza. (Twitter/@cogatonline)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have agreed on three separate three-day breaks in the Gaza Strip battle zone for the implementation of the first round of polio vaccinations for 640,000 children, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday.

"The vaccination campaign will begin on Sunday, with the scheduled break taking place between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time," said Rik Peeperkorn, senior WHO official for the Palestinian territories.

He explained that the campaign would begin in central Gaza with three consecutive daily fighting breaks, then move to southern Gaza, where there would be a three-day gap, followed by northern Gaza.

According to Peeperkorn, there is an agreement to extend the pause in each zone until the fourth day if necessary.

"From our experience, we know that an additional one or two days is very often needed to achieve adequate coverage," Mike Ryan, WHO's director of emergency response to the UN Security Council on Thursday during a meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

"The second round of vaccination will take four weeks after the first round," said Peeperkorn.

"At least 90 percent coverage is needed during each campaign round to stop the outbreak and prevent the spread of international polio," Ryan said.

It is known, WHO on August 23 confirmed that a baby had been paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first case in Gaza in 25 years.

"We are ready to work with international organizations to secure this campaign, serve and protect more than 650,000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip," Hamas Basem Naim officials told Reuters.

Separately, Israel's military humanitarian unit (COGAT) said on Wednesday a vaccination campaign would be carried out in coordination with the Israeli military "as part of a routine humanitarian break that would allow residents to reach the medical centers where vaccinations would be given."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein in a post on X wrote, Israel is continuing "a focused and intensive effort" to deliver aid to Gaza and coordinate a polio vaccination campaign with WHO and UN CHILDREN's UN UNICEF bodies.