The World Health Organisation and the UN’s children’s agency, Unicef, are warning that the risk of “polio spreading in Gaza remains high unless there is an urgent and comprehensive response to the serious health threat”, Al Jazeera reports.

The agencies said in a statement that at least two rounds of an oral polio vaccine will be necessary to halt transmission of the virus. Around three cases of paralysis have been reported in the Gaza Strip, they said and samples have been sent to Jordan to check if the affected individuals were infected with polio.

The UN agencies reiterated calls for a humanitarian pause in fighting to administer polio vaccines to 640,500 children under the age of 10 in Gaza.