We need a cease-fire NOW

In the absence of a deal to end Israel’s assault, humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza continue to deteriorate. Tor Wennesland, the UN specialacoordinator for the Middle East peace process, said after returning from Gaza earlier this week that he “witnessed firsthand the catastrophic impact of the hostilities.” The scale of destruction is immense, the humanitarian needs are colossal and soaring, and civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict. I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza

United Nations agencies reiterated their calls for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after healthcare workers completed the first phase of a polio vaccination push in the face of relentless, deadly Israeli airstrikes.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, announced early Wednesday that more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated during the first three days of the vaccination drive, an effort launched shortly after health officials detected the first polio case in the enclave in over two decades.

“Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed,” said Tedros. “Preparations are underway today to roll out the vaccine campaign in south Gaza, which will start tomorrow. We are grateful for the dedication of all the families, health workers, and vaccinators who made this part of the campaign a success despite the dire conditions in the Gaza Strip.” “We ask for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected,” he added. “We continue to call for a cease-fire.”

Health authorities in the Gaza Strip confirmed the first case of polio in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years in August. On Sunday, the United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began vaccinating some 640,000 children. Israel and Hamas agreed to brief pauses in their 11-month war in Gaza to allow the campaign to go ahead. The same strain that later infected the Palestinian baby, from the type 2 vaccine-derived polio virus that has also been detected in wastewater in some developed countries in recent years, was detected in July in six sewage samples taken in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. But regulatory hurdles and competing health priorities have slowed vaccine approval and distribution processes in many African nations. It is not clear how the strain arrived in Gaza but genetic sequencing showed that it resembles a variant found in Egypt that could have been introduced from September 2023, the WHO said. The U.N. health body says that a drop in routine vaccinations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including Gaza, has contributed to its re-emergence.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) echoed that message, writing on social media that “above all, we need a cease-fire now.” US-armed Israeli forces have bombed the Gaza Strip throughout the dayslong vaccination drive, with one human rights monitor noting that some of the attacks “targeted locations near the vaccination centers.” Al Jazeera reported Wednesday that the Israeli military “targeted a home” in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least one person. In Khan Younis, an Israeli airstrike “killed two more people, including a child,” the outlet reported. Gaza health officials said Tuesday that more than 30 people had been killed over the preceding 24-hour period.

“ Israel kills 33 Palestinians in 24 hours but wants Palestinian families to think it’s safe to travel to vaccinate their kids against polio,” clinician and activist Annie Sparrow wrote on social media. Health officials and aid workers risking their lives to vaccinate Gaza children against polio have said an enclave-wide inoculation campaign could only be successful with a sustained cease-fire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obstructing an agreement with hardline demands, including a continued Israeli military presence in the Palestinian territory.

The Washington Postnoted Tuesday that Netanyahu’s insistence on Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor—a strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt—”has also raised tensions with Egypt, which objects to any Israeli presence there and has warned that it violates the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace treaty, a landmark agreement that has preserved peace between the two countries for more than four decades.”

In the absence of a deal to end Israel’s assault, humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza continue to deteriorate. Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said after returning from Gaza earlier this week that he “witnessed firsthand the catastrophic impact of the hostilities.”

“The scale of destruction is immense, the humanitarian needs are colossal and soaring, and civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict. I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza,” said Wennesland. “A deal is crucial to saving lives, reducing regional tensions, and enabling the UN, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, to accelerate efforts to address the pressing needs of Gaza’s population.” “The ongoing conflict has destroyed the lives of countless families,” he added. “It must stop.”

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