Israeli attack amid polio vaccination program in Gaza: 27 killed

At least 27 Palestinians were killed in a single day by Israeli strikes amid polio vaccination programs across the Gaza Strip. On Friday (September 6), Israeli airstrikes carried out the attack across the Gaza Strip.

Local residents and health workers reported that clashes took place in all areas of Gaza from Friday morning to night. Two women and two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nuseira, the largest and historic refugee camp in the valley. Eight people were killed in an airstrike in Gaza City, the largest city in Gaza, and some of the dead were residents of Khan Younis, Rafa, or Zeitoun.

The United States, Qatar, Egypt and the international community have been working for months to stop the war between Israeli forces and Hamas, which began in October last year. But until now, almost all of the initiatives taken to end the war and establish peace in Gaza have failed. Both Hamas and Israel blame each other for this failure.

A polio vaccination program for children in the Gaza Strip began on September 1. Every year children in the Valley are vaccinated against polio and the entire program is overseen by three United Nations agencies—the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and UNRWA. Israeli forces and Hamas have agreed to a 9-hour daily ceasefire until the vaccination program ends.

Initially, the period of vaccination program was September 1 to September 3. However, on September 3, Palestinians who took refuge in Rafah, a town bordering Gaza, said that many children there had not been vaccinated. Therefore, the duration of the program is further extended.

It should be noted that since the unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, Israel has been carrying out continuous air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip. Thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques, churches have been damaged or destroyed in this Israeli attack. In addition, more than two million residents have been forced to leave their homes due to Israeli aggression.

Basically the Israeli invasion has reduced Gaza to rubble. According to the United Nations, about 85 percent of Gaza's Palestinians have been displaced by Israel's brutal offensive. And with severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, all of Gaza is now food insecure. Israel has already been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Bangladesh /OF