UAE offers $5M for polio vaccination in war-torn Gaza

ISTANBUL

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Friday a $5 million donation for a polio vaccination campaign in the war-torn Gaza Strip, set to begin on Sunday.

According to the UAE’s official news agency WAM, the country's President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, directed the funding for the critical polio vaccination campaign in Gaza as part of the UAE’s efforts to support the Palestinian people.

The campaign, which will be implemented in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, will consist of two rounds and aim to vaccinate 640,000 Gazan children under the age of 10 with two doses each.

Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan announced that the polio vaccination campaign for children under 10 will commence in Gaza on Sunday.

According to a statement from Ramadan, the campaign will start in the Deir al-Balah district of central Gaza and continue until September 4. It will then move to Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip from September 5 to 9, before concluding in Gaza City and the northern part of the strip from September 9 to 12.

On Thursday, the WHO announced an initial commitment to humanitarian cease-fires in specific areas during the polio vaccination campaign.

On August 16, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported the first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years, in Deir al-Balah. The case involved a 10-month-old baby who had not received any doses of the polio vaccine.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,600 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,800 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins. Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar