Middle East crisis: Gaza polio vaccine campaign criticized

Gaza: Medical team attacked

The polio vaccine campaign in northern Gaza began on Saturday and is expected to continue through Monday, with United Nations agencies and partners deployed across the devastated north. during an agreed humanitarian pause to ensure the safety of civilians and aid workers.

The goal is to reach more than 100,000 children with the final dose of the vaccine to ensure that the crippling virus does not spread throughout the Strip or the region. Eradicated 25 years ago, polio re-emerged earlier this year as the ongoing war in Gaza devastated health conditions and services.

This weekend, amid immense operational and security challenges, more than 58,600 children received their second dose of polio vaccine on Saturday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) operations in Israeli-occupied Gaza reported.

Those challenges continued Sunday as the year-long war continued in Gaza, with the latest death toll exceeding 43,000 since the deadly Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2019. 2023 targeting Israel has caused conflict.

“This has been a deadly weekend of attacks in northern Gaza,” said UNICEF Director Catherine Russell. declare issued late Saturday.

‘It’s past time to end this war’

In the past 48 hours alone, Ms. Russell said more than 50 children have died in Jabalia, where strikes have leveled two residential buildings sheltering hundreds of people and a polio vaccination center in the north. Gaza was also attacked, injuring six people, including four children.

Additionally, she said “the personal vehicle of a UNICEF employee working on the polio vaccination campaign was shot at by what we believe to be a quadcopter while driving through Jabalia-Elnazla” , causing damage to the vehicle but the employee was not injured.

“The attacks on Jabalia, vaccination clinics and UNICEF staff are further examples of the serious consequences of indiscriminate attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip,” she said, demanding Israel immediately investigated the circumstances surrounding the attack. an employee of a United Nations agency and that actions were taken to hold accountable those found responsible.

“UNICEF also calls on member states to use their influence to ensure respect for international law, prioritizing the protection of children,” she said. “It is past time to end this war.”

The second year did not go to school

Head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWAsaid on Sunday that children are now losing their second year of school due to the brutal war taking place in Gaza.

The agency, which serves 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, faces an Israeli ban, with parliament passing two bills last week that could end the efforts. UNRWA’s important force in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel – Gaza and the West Bank.

Mr. Lazzarini recalls that children and their education were not mentioned in any of the discussions when “experts” or politicians talked about replacing UNRWA.

“Without an active state there is no other option [to UNRWA],” he said on a social media handle parcel. “Until October last year, UNRWA provided schooling to more than 300,000 boys and girls in Gaza. On the West Bank, nearly 50,000 children attend our schools.”

‘Millions of lives will hang in the balance’

UNRWA is the only UN agency that directly provides education in UN schools, he said, noting that “our schools are the only education system in the region that includes human rights program and adhere to United Nations standards and values”.

“Dismantling UNRWA in the absence of a viable alternative will deprive Palestinian children of the ability to learn for the foreseeable future,” the UN agency chief said, adding that if not learning, children will “fall into hopelessness, poverty and radicalization”.

“Without UNRWA, the fate of millions of people would hang in the balance,” he continued. “Instead of focusing on banning UNRWA or finding an alternative, the focus should be on reaching an agreement to end this conflict. This is the only way to prioritize the return to school for the hundreds of thousands of children now living in ruins. It is time to prioritize children and their future.”

Lebanon: Civilians suffered air strikes

United Nations agencies on the scene reported continued bombings in Lebanon on Sunday.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHAsaid the country was facing “a humanitarian crisis as attacks continue to cause heavy damage”.

Civilians are bearing the brunt of the escalating violence, OCHA said on Sunday, adding that growing needs require greater contributions to help partners save lives.

UN agencies have been providing assistance to civilians. Since the end of September, it has distributed 4.4 million meals, 121,500 food packages and 1.4 million liters of bottled water to people affected by conflict.

Efforts also included delivering 447,000 liters of fuel to water pumping stations so they could continue to operate.

Find more details on the situation in Lebanon and the UN response in OCHA’s latest flash update This.

Syria: People flood across the border from Lebanon

As the war continues in Lebanon, the United Nations refugee agency has reported an increasingly dire and ongoing situation on the border with Syria, where thousands of people are fleeing for safety amid Continuous Israeli air strikes.

“Our teams on the Syria-Lebanon border continue to report a very desperate situation,” UNHCR said on a social media parcel on Sunday.

According to UNHCR, more than 71% of people arriving in Syria are Syrian.

“Many people told us they sold what little money they had to pay for the journey home,” said the UN agency assisting.

UNHCR teams are currently operating at the border, providing emergency relief, including food and water.

Groups are also providing legal support and transportation services to the most vulnerable.

However, the needs are great and more funding is needed, UNCHR said.

Learn more about the UN agency’s work in Syria This.

Yemen: Launching new water ‘lifeline’

United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief (KSrelief), launched an important water project on Sunday.

The $2.25 million project aims to improve sanitation services for more than 185,000 people in Ma’rib, including communities with large numbers of internally displaced people.

According to Abdusattor Esoev, Director of IOM, this 12-month initiative aims to provide essential sanitation and hygiene support through enhancing facilities and strengthening local waste management capacity , promoting safer, healthier living conditions and building long-term resilience for communities disproportionately affected by the ongoing conflict in Yemen. head of the domestic delegation.

“This project is a lifeline for the people of Ma’rib, who are facing the most difficult conditions in Yemen,” he said.

“With hundreds of thousands of people struggling to access basic sanitation, this initiative brings immediate relief while also laying the foundation for long-term community-led solutions,” he said. religion.

As the area with the largest concentration of displaced people in Yemen, Ma’rib has become the largest concentration of internally displaced people in Yemen, sheltering nearly 1.6 million people fleeing conflict, insecurity and Living conditions were poor across the country. Once a province of 350,000 people, Ma’rib’s population has now grown to more than 2 million, putting huge pressure on infrastructure and basic services.

“By providing critical support, we are not only meeting urgent needs but also helping communities regain a sense of dignity, safety and stability,” said IOM’s Mr. Esoev.

The Al Jufainah area alone, Yemen’s largest displaced settlement, houses more than 73,000 people, many of whom rely on outside aid to meet their most basic needs.