Polio Vaccination Continues, It's The Turn Of South Gaza Children To Receive Vaccines In The Middle Of War

Polio Vaccination. (Twitter/@WHO/Billy Miaron

JAKARTA - Palestinians gathered in medical centers south of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, so that their children could receive the polio vaccine in their second-stage vaccination campaign.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said the campaign, which took place after Hamas and Israel agreed on a limited break in their fighting, had so far been successful but complex.

On Thursday, vaccinations began in Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, both areas that have been hit by war and have housed tens of thousands of people who have fled from other regions.

A Palestinian refugee, Ikram Nasser, who was queuing with his son at the vaccination site, said the polio threat only increased people's fears.

"We live based on fear, from bombing, from terror, from destruction, from injury. We add fear of diseases that have spread, such as skin diseases, from lack of cleanliness and population density," he said.

UNRWA said in a statement the vaccination campaign had been moved to the southern region with a team mostly in Khan Younis.

"At this critical time, the regional break must be respected to protect families and humanitarian workers," he said.

Recipients will include people who have been forced by the Israeli military to leave Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where Israeli forces have been operating since May to hunt down Hamas fighters.

Later on Thursday, Gaza's Ministry of Health said Israel refused to allow the medical team to the eastern region of Jalan Salahuddin to vaccinate children living in the eastern community of southern cities. The Israeli military said it was examining the report.

Health officials are targeting to reach 640,000 Gaza children for polio vaccination in the campaign, which was launched after the discovery of a partially paralyzed one-year-old baby.

It was the first known case of the disease in Gaza - one of the most populous places in the world - in 25 years. The disease resurfaced as Gaza's health system almost collapsed and many hospitals were not operating due to war.