Hamas Welcomes UN Calls for Temporary Vaccine Ceasefire in Gaza

A senior Hamas official has welcomed calls from the United Nations for a temporary pause in Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to allow for the administration of polio vaccines amid growing health crisis concerns.

“Hamas has welcomed the UN request for a humanitarian pause to implement the vaccination campaign,” Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim said in a statement shared with Newsweek on Thursday. “And we have asked the international community to oblige Israel to fulfill its obligations in the international law as an occupying force.”

Naim affirmed that the Palestinian militant group was “ready to cooperate with international organizations to secure this campaign” in line with the mission of “serving and protecting more than 650 thousand Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.”

The remarks came shortly after the World Health Organization’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, announced to reporters that the WHO and Israeli officials have reached “a preliminary agreement” on “humanitarian pauses” beginning on Monday and extending for three days each in central, south and northern Gaza.

Newsweek reached out to the WHO and Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories for comment.

Peeperkorn acknowledged that “three days might not be enough to achieve adequate vaccination” in the three Gaza sectors. Some 1.26 million vaccines have been delivered to Gaza, with an additional 400,000 on the way, in a bid to achieve the 90 percent coverage required to effectively stop the transmission of polio.

Peeperkorn said that, at a minimum, community health workers in Gaza would set out to administer polio vaccine doses from around 8-9 hours per day for nine consecutive days. He said that the WHO would seek further pauses in discussion with Israeli authorities if necessary.

“Over 2180 health workers and community outreach workers will support in implementing the campaign,” the WHO said in a statement shared with Newsweek. “Their security is paramount. We urge all parties to ensure their protection as well as of health facilities and children.”

“We reiterate our call for a ceasefire to enable the rebuilding of the health system and strengthening of routine immunization,” the WHO added.

The poliovirus is a highly infectious disease that affects the nervous system, leading in some cases to fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness and limb pain, as well as permanent paralysis, most often of the legs, in severe cases, according to the WHO.

Transmission can occur through person-to-person contact and contaminated food and water, especially in areas with poor sanitation. It is one of several humanitarian issues Gaza faces in the midst of a war that is nearing its 11th month.

The conflict in Gaza began with a Hamas-led surprise attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, that Israeli officials estimate killed around 1,200 people. Since then, the Palestinian Health Ministry has said that more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza amid Israel’s military campaign.

Hopes for a vaccine-related pause come amid separate ceasefire negotiations between the United States, Israel, mediators Egypt and Gaza, which is representing Hamas in the latest round of talks.

The White House has expressed hope that a breakthrough was near in reaching an agreement in line with a three-phase proposal revealed by President Joe Biden in late May. However, officials of Hamas and Israel have accused one another of deliberately hindering progress.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.