10-Month-Old 'Who Has Only Known Gaza Under Siege' Paralyzed by Polio

A child who was born roughly around the time last year that Israel ordered a total blockade on all humanitarian aid to Gaza has now been paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, which health officials have warned for weeks has been detected in wastewater in the enclave due to the complete destruction of the health and sanitation systems.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed Friday that the 10-month-old baby has lost movement in their lower left leg after contracting polio.

The child was unvaccinated due to Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza since last October, in which homes, schools, and hospitals are among the buildings that have been struck.

Israel's assault and near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and medications, has made it impossible for doctors to maintain vaccination schedules for children, putting children under the age of five most at risk for polio.

The collapse of sanitation services has also left the population vulnerable to the virus, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route and can invade the nervous system.

"Even if Israeli authorities let polio vaccines in, with the biggest responders in Gaza constantly pin-balled from one place to the next, how can we deliver an effective campaign and reach the children in dire need of that protection?"

The Gaza Health Ministry reported last month that traces of the virus had been detected in sewage in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

After the child's diagnosis with polio was reported last week, the U.N. called for a temporary pause in fighting to allow for a vaccination campaign—a demand supported by Hamas.

But Israeli forces on Thursday issued the latest evacuation order for Deir al-Balah, where the child now paralyzed by the disease has been living.

The United Nations said that the mass forced displacement of people in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah this month has disrupted critical health services, including polio vaccination campaigns, in some of the only parts of Gaza that still have operating infrastructure.

"Even if Israeli authorities let polio vaccines in, with the biggest responders in Gaza constantly pin-balled from one place to the next, how can we deliver an effective campaign and reach the children in dire need of that protection? If you want to understand the access situation, this is it—not the trickle of trucks exceptionally allowed to enter," said Jeremy Stoner, Middle East regional director for Save the Children.

WHO said Friday that it intends to work with other U.N. agencies to begin two rounds of a polio vaccination campaign across Gaza in late August and September.

"It is not enough to bring the vaccines into Gaza," said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). "To have an impact, the vaccines must end up in the mouths of every child under the age of 10. UNRWA medical teams will deliver the vaccines in our clinics and through our mobile health teams."

Akshaya Kumar, crisis advocacy manager for Human Rights Watch, noted that the paralyzed child "has only known Gaza under siege, under aerial bombardment, and under evacuation order."

Until now, Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh said, there had been no confirmed cases of polio in Gaza for more than two decades.

"Genocide is a process," said Odeh, "and it's not just about the number of those slaughtered."