More than 160,000 children were vaccinated in southern Gaza on Thursday, the first day of a polio vaccination campaign there, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said on Friday.
UN agencies and partners in the Strip will continue to vaccinate "as many Gazan children as possible" during the agreed humanitarian pauses, before moving to the north of the war-shattered enclave, UNRWA added.
Thousands of families visited health centers to get their doses from UN medical teams, UNRWA reported. In southern Gaza, more than 152,000 children were vaccinated in Khan Younis city, nearly 8,800 in Rafah and another 1,000 elsewhere in the south.
The promising development follows the successful completion of the first phase of the vaccination campaign in central Gaza earlier this week, which saw more than 187,000 children under 10 receive protection from polio. To date, combined coverage for central and southern Gaza now stands at 354,786 children.
340,000 need shots in the south
In total, aid teams aim to reach 340,000 children in southern Gaza by Saturday, either in schools, health centres or by going from tent to tent.
A third and final phase is scheduled to begin in northern Gaza on Monday 9 September for three days, targeting around 150,000 children, with a repeat of the whole exercise in four weeks.
Once completed, some 640,000 youngsters will have received two drops of the new type 2 oral polio vaccine in each of the two phases, after the highly transmissible virus resurfaced in Gaza in June after 25 years.
The campaign is being led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNRWA, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other humanitarian partners.
International media ban remains
Nearly 11 months since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks on multiple targets in Israel, international media teams are still barred from entering Gaza by Israeli authorities.
"It is standard for international journalists to cover conflicts and wars," said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, as he urged international media to push harder for access to the enclave and report freely.
"Palestinian journalists have my admiration. They continue to hold the torch despite far too many of them have been killed. They need the support of their colleagues," he said.
Wennesland: Stop West Bank violence
While war continues to rage in Gaza, ongoing deadly clashes in the occupied West Bank that have left two Palestinian children dead in Jenin and Tulkarem have been condemned by the UN's top representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.
"I am appalled by the tragic killing of two children over the past two days by Israeli security forces during military operations in Jenin and Tulkarem," he said in an online post on Thursday.
"I call for an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents, underscoring the urgent need for accountability and justice to ensure the protection of all civilians. Every child's life is precious, and the loss of so many young lives serves as a grim reminder that decisive action must be taken now to stop the violence."
Echoing that message, UNWRA reported that violence and destruction "increase by the hour" in the West Bank.
According to the UN agency, last week was the deadliest for Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since November last year, with seven children among the many killed.
"This is unacceptable. It must stop now," UNRWA insisted on X.
The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, also reported that medical facilities have been nearly under siege for over a week, with severe restrictions on ambulance and medical staff movement.
Humanitarian needs are growing amid increasing insecurity and an excessive use of force, it added.
