The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on Israel to allow access to Gaza, where escalating violence has hindered humanitarian efforts to deliver essential food and medical supplies.
In Gaza, Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in more than a year and majority of the victims are women and children.
Despite the unrest, WHO and its partners initiated the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunise over half a million children, according to Xinhua news agency.
As of Wednesday, 156,943 children in Gaza had received a second dose of the polio vaccine, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared on X.
However, the ongoing violence jeopardises the campaign’s goal of vaccinating at least 90% of the children, a crucial target to prevent the virus from spreading. Along with polio vaccines, children are also receiving vitamin A supplements to boost their immunity.
WHO underscored the dire situation, reporting that out of 54 planned United Nations missions to Gaza in October, only one has been successfully carried out, with the rest either canceled or blocked due to the conflict.
