Israeli Military Says Gaza Polio Vaccination Campaign Completed

A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, November 2, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, November 2, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Military Says Gaza Polio Vaccination Campaign Completed

A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, November 2, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, November 2, 2024. (Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Wednesday aid organizations had completed a second polio vaccination round for children in Gaza, administering more than 1.1 million vaccinations in different areas of the enclave, achieving 90% coverage.

Limits on the area covered by a humanitarian pause in the fighting to conduct the campaign, meant the campaign in northern Gaza was largely restricted to the area around Gaza City, the World Health Organization said.

The polio campaign began on Sept. 1 after the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed in August that a baby was partially paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

Out of a total of 1,107,541 vaccinations for children across Gaza there were 211,170 vaccinations in northern Gaza, 379,361 vaccinations in central Gaza and 517,070 vaccinations in southern Gaza, the military said in a statement.

COGAT, the military agency that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, has been working with international agencies to coordinate the campaign, which requires two vaccine doses per child.

On Tuesday, Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian Territories, said the mass evacuations from areas in northern Gaza where the Israeli military has been operating for more than a month, had made it difficult to estimate the number of children who might be missed in the north.

The first round of the polio vaccination campaign, which began on Sept. 1, reached its target of 90% of children under 10 years of age, according to the United Nations.



Hezbollah Chief Says Indirect Talks on Ceasefire Possible Only if Israel Stops Attacks

Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
TT

Hezbollah Chief Says Indirect Talks on Ceasefire Possible Only if Israel Stops Attacks

Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that only developments on the battlefield, not political moves, would bring an end to the hostilities between the Lebanese armed group and the Israeli military.
"I will tell you very clearly, our conviction is that only one thing can stop this war of aggression, and that is the battlefield," said Qassem, who was elected as Hezbollah's secretary general following the killing of his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli strikes in September.
He said that he did not believe that "political action" would bring about an end to the more than year-long conflict, playing out in parallel with Israel's war in Gaza.
In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem said there would be a road to indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state only if Israel decided to stop its attacks on Lebanon, Reuters reported.
"When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined - indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri," said Qassem.
He said those talks could only proceed if they guaranteed "the protection of Lebanese sovereignty in full, without anything missing," but did not provide further details.
Israel says it aims to return residents displaced from northern Israel to their homes and ensure that Iran-backed Hezbollah will no longer pose a threat to Israel's security.
Last week, Israeli public broadcaster Kan published a draft US proposal on a 60-day truce that included a "side letter" between the US and Israel, granting Israel the right to take action against imminent threats to its security in Lebanon.
Lebanese officials told Reuters that Israel's insistence on "direct enforcement" of a deal would breach state sovereignty.