Israel agrees ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza for polio vaccinations

Israel, facing international pressure to prevent a wider outbreak of the crippling disease, moved with relative speed to allow agencies of the United Nations, supported by local health officials, to tackle the crisis in Gaza, where it launched a war in response to a Hamas-led attack on October 7.

There were initial reports of Israeli strikes in central Gaza early Sunday, but it was not immediately known if anyone was killed or wounded.

The campaign was announced after Gaza recorded its first polio case in a quarter of a century last month.

The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, has officially begun a campaign to vaccinate children in the Gaza Strip against the poliovirus, which can cause paralysis of the limbs or even death in children.