This is merely a “humanitarian pause” in the north of the Gaza Strip, not even a ceasefire throughout the enclave, which is enough time for a vaccination campaign. This pause imposed by the Israeli army and Hamas is limited in time and space. It began on Tuesday, September 10, with the aim of allowing the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign, which began on September 1, to be carried out in this part of the territory.Ahem September, further south. This new sequence is to take place from Tuesday 10 September to Thursday 12 September, for seven hours each day, during which the Israeli army and Hamas suspend the war in a demarcated area, but continue their activities in the rest.
The aim is to prevent the spread of poliovirus, which was detected in sewage in July, before the Gaza Ministry of Health reported a first case in August. The massive destruction of infrastructure and the forced displacement of 1.9 million people out of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants are encouraging the spread of the virus. Negotiations had previously been held between UN officials and Israeli authorities to establish a framework for “humanitarian pauses” that would allow the vaccine to be administered, orally in two doses, with a booster dose four weeks later, to just over 600,000 children. (The exact number is not known, because of deaths, disappearances and births, which can no longer be counted accurately.)
Every day, however, the truce ends at 3:00 p.m. “At four o’clock in the afternoon the bombings can resume completely”A humanitarian source said the UN’s initial request was for the fighting to be suspended throughout Gaza. Following negotiations, three zones were drawn up where the campaign is taking place within defined perimeters.
We should not see in this process any fundamental change in the policy of the Israeli authorities regarding access – and therefore restrictions – of international humanitarian aid to Gaza. All the actors involved in the Gaza Strip understood that vaccination was a vital necessity. The polio strain constitutes a risk of regional magnitude which, if its spread is not controlled, could spread beyond Gaza. However, the virus will not be eradicated after this prophylactic phase. “A month later, the time will come for the second round of vaccination, explains Jonathan Crickx, spokesperson for Unicef Palestine. Only then can we begin the process of evaluating whether the operation has worked well. » A new round of negotiations will be necessary to re-establish the conditions for vaccination.
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