Poliovirus spreads in Gaza: Call for ceasefire to enable vaccination

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday warned of the rapid spread of poliovirus in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need for a ceasefire to allow children to be vaccinated against the disease.

News Center- Death toll in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7,2023 has kept rising.

At least 40,476 Palestinians have been killed and 93,647 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Call for ceasefire to enable vaccination

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday warned of the rapid spread of poliovirus in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need for a ceasefire to allow children to be vaccinated against the disease.

“The quick spread of polio threatens all children in Gaza, already weakened by displacement, deprivation and malnourishment. I urge an immediate 3-day humanitarian ceasefire to enable vaccination by WHO (the World Health Organisation) and UNICEF (the UN's children fund) - independent of wider negotiations. Our humanity demands it,” Josep Borrell said in a post on X.

On Sunday, UNICEF announced an urgent delivery of 1.2 million doses of polio vaccine type 2 to the Gaza Strip and that it plans to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under the age of 10.

Another journalist killed in Gaza

Photojournalist Mohammed Abd Rabbo was killed in an Israeli air attack that hit his sister’s home in the Nuseirat refugee camp earlier this morning.