By Sue Harris
September 13, 2024

The polio vaccination program in Gaza began Sept. 4 after a series of Israeli evacuation orders forced repeated relocation of United Nations operations centers. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “The conditions in Gaza made it extremely, extremely difficult for us to do our work. The U.N. had to evacuate its humanitarian aid hub in the Gaza Strip for a second time since the start of the war on the orders of the Israeli military.”

U.N. safety and security chief Gilles Michaud said, “The Israeli military only gave a few hours’ notice for more than 200 U.N. personnel to move out of offices and living spaces in Deir el-Balah. The timing could hardly be worse with a huge polio vaccination campaign due to start shortly which requires large numbers of U.N. staff to enter Gaza.” (Al-Jazeera, Aug. 27)

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported Aug. 29 that it received a “preliminary commitment” from the IOF allowing for temporary “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to distribute polio vaccines.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territory, indicated that the three pauses would take place from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and last for three days each in different areas of Gaza.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent Kristen Saloomey, reporting from the U.N., the agreement came about after intense pressure from U.N. officials and the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also reportedly appealed to Israel to allow this campaign to happen.

Al Jazeera staff reported that the “United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, has officially begun a campaign to vaccinate children in the Gaza Strip against the polio virus.” (Sept. 1)

Occupation will not stop vaccinations

The first part of the vaccination had been successfully implemented. Over 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated in Central Gaza in the first phase of a two round vaccination campaign, exceeding the goal of 157,000 children. “To ensure no child is missed in this area, polio vaccination will continue at four large health facilities in central Gaza over the next few days. Vaccine doses have been supplied to these sites to meet any additional needs.” (WHO news release, Sept. 4)

Preparations are underway to roll out the next phase of the campaign, which will be conducted in southern Gaza from Sept. 5 to Sept. 8, targeting an estimated 340,000 children below the age of 10. Some 517 teams, including 384 mobile teams, will be deployed.

Nearly 300 community outreach workers have already begun doing outreach to families in southern Gaza to raise awareness about the campaign, while 490 vaccine carriers, 90 cold storage boxes and other supplies have been transferred to Khan Younis for distribution to vaccination sites.

The third and last phase of the polio vaccination campaign will be implemented in northern Gaza from Sept. 9 to Sept. 11, with the goal of reaching around 150,000 children.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine “commended the efforts of medical teams and institutions working in the Gaza Strip under the ongoing genocide, carrying out the polio vaccination campaign despite the ongoing bombings and crimes, as an expression of the Palestinian people’s struggle against the criminal genocide system.” (Resistance News Network, Sept. 3)

In a video entitled “Polio Strikes Gaza: How Israel is Using Disease as a Weapon,” produced by Rania Khalek, featuring Lebanese doctor and researcher Anis Germany, Khalek states, “It’s essentially like going into Auschwitz in the middle of the Holocaust. We’re not gonna stop the death camp; we’ll go in and vaccinate everybody, so they don’t cause a problem for the rest of the world.”

Dr. Germany points out that by destroying all health facilities in Gaza, blockading all food and water, destroying the sewage system and killing thousands of people whose bodies rot under the rubble of their homes, the Israeli occupying force has laid the basis for many epidemics, including polio, which are now raging through Gaza.

He also states in the video that “there is an active policy to promote the spread of infectious disease across Gaza.” He quotes a retired Israeli army general as saying, “We should allow and promote the spread of diseases for Israelis to win with the least amount of Israeli casualties.”

While there has been some progress in the polio vaccination program in Gaza despite Israeli military interference, the point has been made by many that the real solution for the people of Gaza is a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli troops. The people of Gaza need to be “vaccinated” against the Israelis.