CAIRO — Palestinian officers say an Israeli drone strike on a clinic in northern Gaza the place youngsters had been being vaccinated for polio wounded six individuals, together with 4 youngsters. The Israeli army denied duty.
The alleged strike occurred Saturday in northern Gaza, which has been encircled by Israeli forces and largely remoted for the previous 12 months. Israel has been finishing up one other offensive there in latest weeks that has killed lots of of individuals and displaced tens of hundreds.
It was not doable to resolve the conflicting accounts. Israeli forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in Gaza over the course of the conflict, saying Hamas makes use of them for militant functions, allegations denied by Palestinian well being officers.
Dr. Munir al-Boursh, director common of the Gaza Well being Ministry, instructed The Related Press {that a} quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza Metropolis early Saturday afternoon, only a few minutes after a United Nations delegation left the power.
The World Well being Group and the U.N. youngsters’s company, often known as UNICEF, that are collectively finishing up the polio vaccination marketing campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike.
“The stories of this assault are much more disturbing because the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is among the well being factors the place mother and father can get their youngsters vaccinated,” mentioned Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for UNICEF.
“At this time’s assault occurred whereas the humanitarian pause was nonetheless in impact, regardless of assurances on condition that the pause can be revered from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.”
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, mentioned that “opposite to the claims, an preliminary evaluation decided that the (Israeli army) didn’t strike within the space on the specified time.”
A scaled-down marketing campaign to manage a second dose of the polio vaccine started Saturday in elements of northern Gaza. It had been postponed from Oct. 23 because of lack of entry, Israeli bombings and mass evacuation orders, and the dearth of assurances for humanitarian pauses, a U.N. assertion mentioned.
The administration of the primary dose was carried out in September throughout the Gaza Strip, together with areas of northern Gaza that are actually utterly sealed off. Well being officers mentioned the marketing campaign’s first spherical, and the administration of the second dose throughout central and southern Gaza, had been profitable.
No less than 100,000 individuals have been compelled to evacuate from areas of north Gaza towards Gaza Metropolis previously few weeks, however round 15,000 youngsters below the age of 10 stay in northern cities, together with Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, that are inaccessible, in response to the U.N.
The ultimate part of the polio vaccination marketing campaign had aimed to succeed in an estimated 119,000 youngsters within the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the companies mentioned, however “attaining this goal is now unlikely because of entry constraints.”
They are saying 90% of kids in each neighborhood should be vaccinated to forestall the unfold of the illness.
The marketing campaign was launched after the primary polio case was reported in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed within the leg. The World Well being Group mentioned the presence of a paralysis case signifies there may very well be lots of extra who’ve been contaminated however aren’t exhibiting signs.
The conflict started on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and abducting one other 250. Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, in response to Gaza well being authorities, who don’t say what number of had been combatants however say greater than half had been ladies and kids.
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Observe AP’s conflict protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
