Israel and Hamas have tentatively agreed to a series of brief ceasefires in parts of Gaza so that the polio vaccine can be safely distributed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
The pauses will begin on Sunday and will take place in three phases covering central Gaza first, then the south and finally the north.
Rik Peeperkorn, WHO senior official for the Palestinian territories, said each pause will last three days, take place only during daylight hours – 6am to 3pm – and could be extended into a fourth day if needed.
The United Nations is hoping to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children in Gaza after traces of the polio virus were found in the sewage system two months ago.
According to the WHO, a 10-month-old baby had been paralysed by the type-2 strand of the virus – the first case in Gaza in 25 years.
At least 90% of children under the age of 10 need to be vaccinated to stop the virus from spreading. The Israeli government has been warned it could cross into Israel if left unaddressed.
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Hamas official Basem Naim welcomed the news, and said: “We are ready to cooperate with international organisations to secure this campaign, serving and protecting more than 650,000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.”
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is said to have demanded Israel facilitate the vaccine distribution, on his recent visit to the country.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has denied a wider truce but said that it has been examining ways the vaccine can be rolled out. Hamas has released statements saying it will support a humanitarian truce.
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It comes as low-level discussions have been continuing in Qatar to try and secure a full ceasefire and hostage release. Some mediators are said to hope that the temporary pauses, if successful, might build confidence for a more substantial deal.
Distributing the vaccine under bombardment is almost impossible, UN officials have told Sky News, and even with pauses in specific areas, it will still be hard to vaccinate all the children they need to.