At least 30 Palestinians are killed across Gaza, as the UN restarts its polio vaccination campaign.
By Nathan Morley
Listen to Nathan Morley’s report
At least 30 people have been killed in recent Israeli air and artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian security sources say the Israeli army has ramped up its attacks across Gaza, principally at the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Medics say they recovered at least ten bodies after an artillery strike hit a school sheltering displaced persons at the camp.
In another incident, two people were killed in an Israeli strike east of Gaza City.
UN restarts polio vaccinations
Amid all this, the last phase of a polio vaccination operation has started Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the latest phase was delayed in October by UN agencies due to intense Israeli attacks, mass displacement and lack of access.
During each round of the campaign, two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 are being administered to thousands of children under ten years of age.
The final phase of the campaign had aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in northern Gaza with a second dose of novel vaccine. However, the WHO says achieving this target is now unlikely due to access constraints.
Fears about polio worsened when Gaza recorded its first case in 25 years during August, which left a baby boy paralysed.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, sewage samples were found to contain poliovirus type 2 when examined in Israeli laboratories.
Polio can be a life-threatening disease, it mainly affects infants and children under 5, but anyone who is unvaccinated can catch it.
There is no cure for polio, but extensive vaccination can be an effective prevention strategy.
It is very contagious and spreads from person to person — usually, when someone is in contact with the feces of an infected person and then touches their mouth – it is ingested through contaminated water or food.
The virus attacks the spinal cord and can cause irreversible paralysis in children.
Due to major problems with the fresh water supply, sewage disposal and the severely weakened health system, the risk of spreading is very high.
Elsewhere on Saturday, a rocket fired from Lebanon struck a building in the mixed Arab-Israeli town of Tira in Israel, injuring 19 people.
