Israel agreed on Thursday to partially suspend bombing in parts of Gaza starting this weekend to allow thousands of Palestinian children to be vaccinated against polio.
In a statement, the Israeli government rejected the possibility of a general truce but said it had agreed to “temporary pauses in certain places” to allow humanitarian groups to carry out the vaccination campaign.
According to the Israeli press, the pause in hostilities was a demand of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Israel last week, and there is a high probability that the disease could spread to Israel if it is not brought under control in time. in Gaza. The agreement also applies to Hamas, and staggered breaks of three days each are planned in three different areas of Gaza.
The World Health Organization confirmed on the 23rd the first case of polio in the Palestinian enclave in more than 25 years, in an 11-month-old child, and warned of the risk of an “uncontrollable” outbreak of the disease due to a lack of hygiene and health care after more than 10 months of war. Polio is a highly contagious disease that can lead to paralysis and death.
More than a million doses of vaccine have been sent to the territory, with an estimated 90% of the 640,000 Palestinian children under 10 needed to be vaccinated to stop the disease.
Israeli troops kill five militants in mosque
Israeli forces killed five suspected terrorists at a mosque in Tulkarm on Thursday, the second day of a major offensive in the West Bank against Iranian-backed militants.
Local sources say the soldiers disguised themselves as civilians to infiltrate the mosque, which will serve as the group’s base of operations.
One of the killed terrorists was identified as Mohammed Jaber, a local commander of the Tulkarm Brigade, a group backed by Islamic Jihad and responsible for numerous attacks on Israeli troops and civilians.
On Wednesday, the first day of the offensive, Israeli forces said they had killed at least 12 militants and detained dozens of others. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed “grave concern” about the offensive in the West Bank, accusing Israel of “further escalating an already volatile situation.”
Author: Ricardo Ramos
Source: CM Jornal
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