WHO Sending 1.2 Million Polio Vaccines to Gaza as Israel Continues Its Genocidal War
HAVANA TIMES – The World Health Organization has announced plans to send 1.2 million polio vaccine doses to Gaza amid fears of a polio outbreak after the virus was detected in wastewater. Over the past 10 months, Israel has destroyed all of Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants and most of Gaza’s sewage pumps. The WHO says it is aiming to vaccinate 600,000 Palestinian children under the age of 8. The WHO repeated its call for a ceasefire, saying its medical staff need “absolute freedom of movement” to administer the vaccines.
This all comes as Israel has killed at least 27 more Palestinians in central and southern Gaza in what Al Jazeera called an “especially bloody day.” The dead included Nadi Sallout, who worked with the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen. In April, a series of Israeli airstrikes killed seven other workers at World Central Kitchen.
One Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah.
Nidal Ashour: “The missile fell, and the explosion was huge. In front of me, there was about 15 to 20 wounded people. The majority of them had their legs dismembered, their legs amputated. After that hit, I went with my neighbor whose leg was dismembered. I went with him in the ambulance to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. When we were at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, they hit the second strike. We came this morning, as you can see, to this destruction. We did not expect the strike to be this powerful and in this magnitude. The scene makes you want to cry. Children were fleeing. It was like the end of the world. The pictures speak louder than words.”
In more news on Gaza, Turkey has formally asked to join South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice.