The World Health Organization (WHO) announced an agreement with Israel for limited humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow polio vaccinations for hundreds of thousands of children. This comes after the first polio case in 25 years was confirmed in the region.
Starting Sunday, the campaign will provide vaccinations in central Gaza with pauses from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. over three days, extendable by an additional day. Similar pauses will follow in southern and northern Gaza. The effort aims to vaccinate 640,000 children under 10, with over 2,100 health workers participating.
The pauses are coordinated with Israeli authorities but do not constitute a cease-fire. Hamas has expressed readiness to cooperate, while WHO stresses the need to vaccinate at least 90% of children to halt transmission.