Israeli Airstrikes in Jabalia Refugee Camp Amid Polio Vaccination Campaign

Israeli Airstrikes Claim Lives at Jabalia Refugee Camp

An overnight assault by the Israeli military on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza has resulted in the tragic deaths of eight individuals who were waiting in line to obtain bread at the entrance of a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) school, according to various media reports. This camp, devastated by a previous Israeli offensive in December that left 90 Palestinians dead, has been repeatedly targeted since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October of the previous year.

The state-run Palestine News Agency, citing local sources, reported that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also conducted a strike against a group of civilians northwest of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza. Although the IDF has not officially claimed responsibility for these attacks, it announced on the social media platform X that it had killed eight Hamas members, including commander Ahmed Fozi Nazer Muhammad Wadia, in a separate strike on the Al-Ahli Hospital compound in Gaza City.

Large-Scale Polio Vaccination Campaign Underway in Gaza

These airstrikes coincide with a significant vaccination initiative being launched by Palestinian health authorities and UN agencies aimed at combating polio in the Gaza Strip, following the report of the region’s first polio case in 25 years. The case involved a 10-month-old boy who subsequently became paralyzed in one leg, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue dire warnings about the potential for more undetected cases to emerge.

Health officials have set a goal to vaccinate approximately 640,000 children throughout the region. The campaign will initially focus on central Gaza until Wednesday, after which it will shift to the more heavily impacted northern and southern areas of the territory. The WHO has indicated that Israel agreed to allow temporary pauses in hostilities to facilitate this essential vaccination effort, although this pause ended on Sunday afternoon, according to a schedule provided by Israeli authorities.

Israel has committed to allowing the vaccination program to continue until September 9, with activities scheduled for eight hours a day. However, the campaign faces numerous challenges, including ongoing military conflict, severely damaged infrastructure, and hospitals that have been rendered non-operational due to the war. Currently, around 90% of Gaza’s population, estimated at 2.3 million, has been displaced within the confines of this besieged territory.

Related Developments

• Netanyahu asserts that Israel will maintain its presence in the strategically significant Philadelphi corridor.
• An Israeli rocket struck a medical convoy in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of five members of the transportation crew.

The vaccination campaign will be implemented at approximately 160 locations throughout Gaza, including medical centers and schools. Children under the age of ten will receive two drops of the oral polio vaccine in two rounds, with the second round scheduled to occur four weeks after the first. Israel permitted the entry of around 1.3 million doses of the vaccine into the territory last month, which are currently stored in a refrigerated warehouse in Deir al-Balah. An additional shipment of 400,000 doses is expected to arrive in Gaza shortly.

Efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have been ongoing, with the aim of halting hostilities and securing the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. However, discussions have encountered significant roadblocks on various contentious issues.