Praise The Progress Of Polio Vaccination In Gaza, The Head Of UNRWA Calls For A Permanent Armistice

Polio vaccination in Gaza. (Twitter/@DrTedros)

JAKARTA - The United Nations Agency for Assistance and Work for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday it was making good progress in launching polio vaccinations for children in Gaza, but called for a permanent ceasefire in an 11-month war to ease humanitarian suffering.

UNRWA said in a three-day vaccination campaign in the central Gaza region, around 187,000 children had received the vaccine. Next, the second phase of the vaccination campaign will be held in other regions of Gaza.

"A great progress! Every day in the central region of Gaza, more and more children get vaccinated against polio," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini tweeted on social media X.

"Although this polio "tethod" gives people a little rest time, what is urgently needed is a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the standard flow of humanitarian supplies including medical supplies and cleanliness," he said.

The polio vaccination in Gaza was triggered by the discovery of a polio case in a baby boy last month, the first in 25 years.

Israel and Hamas militants agreed to conduct an eight-hour daily hiatus in combat in predetermined territory, to allow the vaccination program. No violations were reported.

Palestinians say the main reason for polio's return is the collapse of the health system and the collapse of most hospitals in Gaza.

On Tuesday, COGAT, Israel's Defense Ministry agency tasked with coordinating aid deliveries to Palestinian territories said it had facilitated the entry of 282,126 bottles of polio vaccine, enough for 2,821,260 people. Gaza itself has a population of about 2.3 million people.

They also said in a statement that about 554,512 vials of the vaccine had entered the Gaza Strip, which was sufficient for 4,973,736 individual vaccines for various diseases and potential epidemics in the Gaza Strip.