Israel Agrees to Humanitarian Pauses in Gaza for Polio Vaccination Drive

Israel has agreed to implement a series of humanitarian pauses in the ongoing conflict to allow for the vaccination of children. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that this crucial campaign will target approximately 640,000 children across the Gaza Strip, beginning on Sunday.

The vaccination drive, which comes in response to Gaza’s first reported case of polio in 25 years, will be rolled out in three phases, each focusing on different regions of the strip—central, southern, and northern. During each phase, fighting will be paused for three consecutive days, from 06:00 to 15:00 local time, to ensure safe administration of the vaccine.

The WHO has mobilized over 2,000 health and community outreach workers, who have been trained to carry out the campaign. The goal is to achieve 90% vaccine coverage, a critical threshold needed to halt the transmission of the highly infectious poliovirus within the region.