ALBAWABA - Hours after resuming the Polio vaccination campaign in Northern Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a healthcare center, injuring at least 6 people.
The long-awaited last phase of a UN-supported polio vaccine campaign began on Saturday in shelled, beleaguered northern Gaza, even as UN officials on the ground reported that one vaccination center was targeted during a humanitarian pause.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to X to express concern over the grave abuses Israel has been committing against Palestinians in Gaza.
"We have received an extremely concerning report that the Sheikh Radwan primary healthcare center in northern Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the lifesaving polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed," Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote.
On Saturday, the emergency polio vaccination campaign in Gaza launched its second phase, with the exception of northern Gaza, which is now witnessing Israeli military offensives and a humanitarian catastrophe.
A Gaza-based doctor involved with the vaccination effort told Anadolu that the first phase began two months ago, with the second phase set to start four weeks later in both northern Gaza and Gaza City. However, offensives in the north slowed the deployment, resulting in a limited implementation.
Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan acknowledged Thursday that northern Gaza could not move on with the second phase due to ongoing fighting, and plans for the next round of vaccines in the north had been postponed.
