Eleven months of Israeli bombardment have created the ideal conditions to bring polio — which is spread mainly when contaminated stool from an infected person is orally ingested — back from near-eradication: destroyed water and sewage lines; hundreds of thousands crowded into patches of land lacking toilets and sewage systems; and a health care system that has collapsed under the weight of hostilities and war injuries, leading to a dramatic drop in routine vaccinations.
The U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday is launching a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children against polio after the first case of the disease in Gaza in 25 years was reported.
Health care workers have for months warned of the reemergence of polio due to the dire humanitarian situation.
Meanwhile, parts of the West Bank remained on edge as Israel’s military continued its military campaign, the deadliest since the Israel-Hamas war began, and two car bombings by Palestinian militants near Israeli settlements left three soldiers injured.
