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Second Stage of Gaza Polio Campaign Begins While War Goes on in Other Areas

Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Second Stage of Gaza Polio Campaign Begins While War Goes on in Other Areas

Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Crowds of Palestinians gathered at medical centers in the south of the embattled Gaza Strip on Thursday to have their children vaccinated against polio, the start of the second stage of a campaign that has so far seen 187,000 youngsters inoculated.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said the campaign, facilitated by Hamas and Israel agreeing on limited pauses in their fighting, was so far successful but complex, reported Reuters.
But the war continued elsewhere in the enclave, with Gaza health authorities reporting several people killed in Israeli airstrikes, including a hit on a hospital in central Gaza.
And despite the success of the polio campaign, diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire in the war, the release of hostages held in Gaza, and the return of Palestinians jailed by Israel have faltered.
On Thursday, vaccinations began in Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, both areas that have been battered by the war and have hosted tens of thousands of people who have fled other parts.
"The #polio vaccination campaign has moved to #Gaza southern areas today. @UNRWA teams are in Khan Younis this morning, working with partners to provide the vaccine to children," UNRWA said in a statement.
"At this critical time, area pauses must be respected to protect families and humanitarian workers," it said.
Most of the activity will be conducted in Khan Younis and will include residents who had been forced by the Israeli military to leave Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where Israeli forces have been operating since May.
The Israeli military said it has killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen in Rafah and located dozens of tunnels and military infrastructure in that time.
Health officials aim to reach 640,000 Gaza children for vaccinations against polio in a campaign launched after the discovery of a case in which a one-year-old baby was partially paralyzed.
This was the first known case of the disease in Gaza - one of the world's most densely populated places - in 25 years. It re-emerged as Gaza's health system has virtually collapsed and many hospitals have been knocked out of action due to the war.
Footage circulated by the Gaza Health Ministry showed large crowds of Palestinians arriving at medical facilities in Khan Younis to get their children vaccinated.
UNRWA said on Wednesday good progress was being made in rolling out the vaccine to children in Gaza but a permanent ceasefire in the 11-month-old war is needed to ease humanitarian suffering.
DEADLOCK AND FIGHTING
Meanwhile, Israeli forces pressed on with operations in several areas across the Palestinian enclave, battling fighters from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Gaza health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.
The victims were in a tent encampment inside the hospital compound where displaced people had sought shelter, they said.
The Israeli military said the airstrike hit a command center there used by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to plan and direct attacks against Israeli forces.
On the diplomatic front, the United States was trying to put forward a new proposal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the coming days, two US officials, two Egyptian security sources, and an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The proposal aims to work out the major sticking points behind a months-long impasse in talks mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the US officials said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war can only end when Hamas is eradicated. Hamas wants any agreement ending the war to include a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, when its fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the enclave's health ministry.

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Arab World

Gaza Ceasefire Still Elusive as Negotiators Try to Hammer out Deal

This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Gaza Ceasefire Still Elusive as Negotiators Try to Hammer out Deal

This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Negotiators were trying to hammer out the final details of a complex, phased ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday after marathon talks in Qatar aiming to end a conflict that has inflicted widespread death and destruction and upended the Middle East.

More than eight hours of talks in Doha had fueled optimism. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US as well as Israel and Hamas said on Tuesday that an agreement for a truce in the besieged Palestinian enclave and the release of hostages was closer than ever.

But a senior Hamas official told Reuters late on Tuesday that the Palestinian group had not yet delivered its response because it was still waiting for Israel to submit maps showing how its forces would withdraw from Gaza.

During months of on-off talks to achieve a truce in the devastating 15-month-old war, both sides have previously said they were close to a ceasefire only to hit last-minute obstacles. The broad outlines of the current deal have been in place since mid-2024.

If successful, the planned phased ceasefire could halt fighting that has decimated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced most of the enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million and is still killing dozens of people a day.

That in turn could ease tensions across the wider Middle East, where the war has fueled conflict in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Iran.

Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed across its borders on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 46,700 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in the enclave.

Palestinians were once again hoping the latest talks would deliver some relief from Israeli airstrikes, and ease a humanitarian crisis.

"We are waiting for the ceasefire and the truce. May God complete it for us in goodness, bless us with peace, and allow us to return to our homes," said Amal Saleh, 54, a Gazan displaced by the war.

"Even if the schools are bombed, destroyed, and ruined, we just want to know that we are finally living in peace."

Under the plan, Israel would recover around 100 remaining hostages and bodies from among those captured in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war. In return it would free Palestinian detainees.

The latest draft is complicated and sensitive. Under its terms, the first steps would feature a six-week initial ceasefire.

The plan also includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to north Gaza.

The deal would also require Hamas to release 33 Israeli hostages along with other steps.

The draft stipulates negotiations over a second phase of the agreement to begin by the 16th day of phase one. Phase two includes the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.

Even if the warring sides agree to the deal on the table, that agreement still needs further negotiation before there is a final ceasefire and the release of all the hostages

If it all goes smoothly, the Palestinians, Arab states and Israel still need to agree on a vision for post-war Gaza, a massive task involving security guarantees for Israel and billions of dollars in investment for rebuilding.

ISRAELI ATTACKS

Despite the efforts to reach a ceasefire, the Israeli military, the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency and the air force attacked about 50 targets throughout Gaza over the last 24 hours, Shin Bet and the military said in a statement on Wednesday.

Israeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians across the enclave. Those included seven people who were in a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, and six others killed in separate airstrikes on houses in Deir Al-Balah, Bureij camp and Rafah, medics said.

Families of hostages in Israel were caught between hope and despair.

"We can't miss this moment. This is the last moment; we can save them," said Hadas Calderon, whose husband Ofer and children Sahar and Erez were abducted.

Israel says 98 hostages are being held in Gaza, about half of whom are believed to be alive. They include Israelis and non-Israelis. Of the total, 94 were seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel and four have been held in Gaza since 2014.