EU Urges ‘Polio Ceasefire’ In Gaza As WHO Seeks To Vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian Children

We reported earlier this month that Gaza recorded its first case of polio since the highly contagious virus was eradicated there 25 years ago.

The Gaza Health Ministry has said that an 10-month-old infant in the central city of Deir al-Balah “who has not received any polio vaccine dose” tested positive for the virus. The baby has since reportedly been paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, which can be fatal. The ministry has since indicated that “a number of children” have presented with symptoms consistent with polio.

On Tuesday European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that the spread of polio threatens all children in Gaza. He is calling for an urgent polio ceasefire.

Borrell has announced the need for an “immediate 3-day humanitarian ceasefire” to enable vaccination, and emphasized that “Our humanity demands it.” He said that the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF must be allowed full access to be able to vaccinate the Gaza Strip and this should happen “independent of wider negotiations.”

These efforts have already begun, but distributing vaccines in an active war zone and with bombs falling will certainly be an uphill battle. The New York Times details of where the campaign stands:

More than 1.2 million doses of the polio vaccine arrived in Gaza on Monday, in preparation for an expansive effort to inoculate more than 640,000 Palestinian children and curb a potential outbreak, the United Nations, Israel and health authorities in Gaza said.

…UNICEF, the U.N. children’s fund, said it was delivering the vaccines in cooperation with the World Health Organization, the main U.N. agency that aids Palestinians, UNRWA; and other groups. UNRWA officials said they hoped to deliver the first vaccines to Gazan children starting on Saturday.

But the campaign will be “a very difficult operation and its success will depend very much on the conditions on the ground at the time,” Sam Rose, a senior official from the agency, said at a news briefing on Monday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been calling for a voluntary ceasefire to allow health workers to conduct their work.

For weeks now he has implored Israeli and Palestinian forces to lay down their arms to at least allow the Strip to be vaccinated. “I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign,” he previously told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

The quick spread of polio threatens all children in Gaza, already weakened by displacement, deprivation & malnourishment.

I urge an immediate 3-day humanitarian ceasefire to enable vaccination by @WHO & @UNICEF – independent of wider negotiations.

Our humanity demands it.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 27, 2024

“Let’s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian cease-fire,” Guterres stressed. “But in any case, a polio pause is a must.”

At this moment the IDF military’s campaign to rescue the hostages is still in full force, and there is unlikely to be a complete pause in fighting; however, it’s possible there could be a slow down in fighting in some locales.