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A United Nations employee provides a polio vaccine in a clinic in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on January 21, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"A cease-fire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio," said the director-general of the health agency.
Days after the Gaza Health Ministry declared the enclave a "polio epidemic zone," with poliovirus type 2 found in wastewater samples, the World Health Organization had a simple but urgent message Wednesday: Healthcare workers need a cease-fire to stop the devastating virus from spreading across Gaza and potentially across borders.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was deploying more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, but warned that Israel's continued bombings, forced displacement of Palestinians, and decimation of the healthcare system through its blocking of aid will prevent humanitarian workers from protecting people in the enclave.
"We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively," said Tedros. "A cease-fire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio."
Tedros said the detection of polio in wastewater is "a telltale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk."
Children under the age of 5—especially those younger than 2—are most at risk for polio, as healthcare providers have not been able to maintain normal vaccination schedules for children and babies since Israel began its assault on Gaza last October.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders."
Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, said in a news conference that no clinical cases of polio have been diagnosed so far.
But Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the organization, said that could rapidly change without a cease-fire.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders," said Balkhy.
Mass vaccination campaigns have helped doctors to nearly eradicate polio in recent decades, with global cases declining by 99% since 1988. The virus is highly infectious and can affect the nervous system, causing paralysis.
WHO made its latest call for a cease-fire amid reports of intensified Israeli attacks on Khan Younis, where at least 11 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, including at least one woman in an attack on a residential building.
The Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate Beit Hanoun, reportedly ahead of planned attacks there. Israeli tanks also shelled the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij.
Thousands of Palestinians were fleeing Beit Hanoun and other parts of northern Gaza on foot on Wednesday, according to Anadolu Agency, heading to Jabalia and Gaza City.
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, as well as the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut, have raised concerns of a potential escalation in the conflict, which has killed at least 39,677 Palestinians since October.
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Days after the Gaza Health Ministry declared the enclave a "polio epidemic zone," with poliovirus type 2 found in wastewater samples, the World Health Organization had a simple but urgent message Wednesday: Healthcare workers need a cease-fire to stop the devastating virus from spreading across Gaza and potentially across borders.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was deploying more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, but warned that Israel's continued bombings, forced displacement of Palestinians, and decimation of the healthcare system through its blocking of aid will prevent humanitarian workers from protecting people in the enclave.
"We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively," said Tedros. "A cease-fire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio."
Tedros said the detection of polio in wastewater is "a telltale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk."
Children under the age of 5—especially those younger than 2—are most at risk for polio, as healthcare providers have not been able to maintain normal vaccination schedules for children and babies since Israel began its assault on Gaza last October.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders."
Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, said in a news conference that no clinical cases of polio have been diagnosed so far.
But Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the organization, said that could rapidly change without a cease-fire.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders," said Balkhy.
Mass vaccination campaigns have helped doctors to nearly eradicate polio in recent decades, with global cases declining by 99% since 1988. The virus is highly infectious and can affect the nervous system, causing paralysis.
WHO made its latest call for a cease-fire amid reports of intensified Israeli attacks on Khan Younis, where at least 11 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, including at least one woman in an attack on a residential building.
The Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate Beit Hanoun, reportedly ahead of planned attacks there. Israeli tanks also shelled the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij.
Thousands of Palestinians were fleeing Beit Hanoun and other parts of northern Gaza on foot on Wednesday, according to Anadolu Agency, heading to Jabalia and Gaza City.
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, as well as the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut, have raised concerns of a potential escalation in the conflict, which has killed at least 39,677 Palestinians since October.
Days after the Gaza Health Ministry declared the enclave a "polio epidemic zone," with poliovirus type 2 found in wastewater samples, the World Health Organization had a simple but urgent message Wednesday: Healthcare workers need a cease-fire to stop the devastating virus from spreading across Gaza and potentially across borders.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was deploying more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, but warned that Israel's continued bombings, forced displacement of Palestinians, and decimation of the healthcare system through its blocking of aid will prevent humanitarian workers from protecting people in the enclave.
"We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively," said Tedros. "A cease-fire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio."
Tedros said the detection of polio in wastewater is "a telltale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk."
Children under the age of 5—especially those younger than 2—are most at risk for polio, as healthcare providers have not been able to maintain normal vaccination schedules for children and babies since Israel began its assault on Gaza last October.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders."
Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, said in a news conference that no clinical cases of polio have been diagnosed so far.
But Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the organization, said that could rapidly change without a cease-fire.
"We risk the virus spreading further, including across borders," said Balkhy.
Mass vaccination campaigns have helped doctors to nearly eradicate polio in recent decades, with global cases declining by 99% since 1988. The virus is highly infectious and can affect the nervous system, causing paralysis.
WHO made its latest call for a cease-fire amid reports of intensified Israeli attacks on Khan Younis, where at least 11 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, including at least one woman in an attack on a residential building.
The Israel Defense Forces ordered people to evacuate Beit Hanoun, reportedly ahead of planned attacks there. Israeli tanks also shelled the refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij.
Thousands of Palestinians were fleeing Beit Hanoun and other parts of northern Gaza on foot on Wednesday, according to Anadolu Agency, heading to Jabalia and Gaza City.
The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, as well as the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut, have raised concerns of a potential escalation in the conflict, which has killed at least 39,677 Palestinians since October.