Israel hits back at claims it targeted Gaza polio vaccine clinic after four children wounded in strike - as UN chiefs brand situation in territory apocalyptic
Israel has hit back at claims that it targeted a Gaza vaccine clinic after four children were left wounded in a strike.
Israel has hit back at claims that it targeted a Gaza vaccine clinic after four children were left wounded in a strike.
The four children were among six people who were injured Saturday when a polio vaccination centre in northern Gaza was targeted.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) only restarted the second round of vaccinations in northern Gaza on Saturday after being forced to suspend them earlier because of Israeli bombardments.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the health centre was in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed and the attack could off parents of children needing a second vaccine to be covered.
He did not specify who carried out the strike but Israel rejected a claim by a Gaza source that one of its drones fired missiles at the centre.
Palestinian children receive polio vaccination as a part of the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign resumed Saturday after being postponed for about a month due to the Israeli armys attacks in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City, on November 02
Palestinian children queue outside a tent for the second phase of polio vaccination at Abdel Aziz Rantissi hospital in Gaza Citys Nasr district on November 2
Four children were among six people who were injured Saturday when a polio vaccination centre in northern Gaza was targeted. Pictured: Palestinian children receive polio vaccination on Saturday
Israeli forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in Gaza over the course of the war, saying Hamas uses them for militant purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.
Dr Munir al-Boursh, director-general of the Gaza Health Ministry, told the Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan Clinic in Gaza City early on Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after a United Nations delegation left the facility.
The WHO and the UN childrens agency, Unicef, which are jointly carrying out the polio vaccination campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike.
The reports of this attack are even more disturbing as the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is one of the health points where parents can get their children vaccinated, said Unicef spokeswoman Rosalia Bollen.
Todays attack occurred while the humanitarian pause was still in effect, despite assurances given that the pause would be respected from 6am to 4pm.
An Israeli military statement said: The IDF (army) is aware of claims regarding the injury of Palestinian civilians in the Sheikh Radwan vaccination center in the northern Gaza Strip.
It added: Contrary to the claims, an initial review determined that the IDF did not strike in the area at the specified time.
We have received an extremely concerning report that the Sheikh Radwan primary health care centre in northern Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the life-saving polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed, Tedros said.
Six people, including four children, were injured, he added.
A medic administers a polio vaccine to a Palestinian child at Abdel Aziz Rantissi hospital in Gaza Citys Nasr district which was reopened on November 2 after sustaining heavy damage in Israeli bombardment of the area earlier this year
This is the second round and final phase of polio vaccinations which the World Health Organisation said last week it had to postpone in north Gaza because of intense bombardment
Palestinian children are vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign on November 2
The Israeli military has been pounding northern Gaza for weeks in a major offensive it says is aimed at stopping Hamas militants from regrouping.
UN agency chiefs have spoken of an apocalyptic situation in north Gaza which has been denied basic aid and life-saving supplies.
The vaccination drive began on September 1 with a successful first round, after the besieged Palestinian territory confirmed its first case of polio in 25 years.
A WHO team was at the site just before Saturdays strike, Tedros said.
This attack, during humanitarian pause, jeopardises the sanctity of health protection for children and may deter parents from bringing their children for vaccination, he added.
The WHO says some 119,000 children in the north are awaiting a second dose, while 452,000 have been vaccinated in central and southern Gaza.
Typically spread through sewage and contaminated water, poliovirus is highly infectious.
It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal, mainly affecting children under five.
A scaled-down campaign to administer a second dose of the polio vaccine began in parts of northern Gaza on Saturday.
It had been postponed from October 23 due to lack of access, Israeli bombings and mass evacuation orders, and the lack of assurances for humanitarian pauses, a UN statement said.
The administration of the first dose was carried out in September across the Gaza Strip, including areas of northern Gaza that are now completely sealed off.
The WHO says some 119,000 children in the north are awaiting a second dose, while 452,000 have been vaccinated in central and southern Gaza
The WHO said the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but are not showing symptoms
Health officials said the campaigns first round, and the administration of the second dose across central and southern Gaza, were successful.
The final phase of the polio vaccination campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the agencies said, but achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints.
They say 90 per cent of children in every community must be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.
The campaign was launched after the first polio case in 25 years was reported in Gaza - a 10-month-old boy, now paralysed in the leg.
The WHO said the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but are not showing symptoms.
Hamass October 7, 2023 attack, which started the Gaza war, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israels retaliatory military campaign has killed 43,314 people in Gaza, a majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territorys health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
