Gaza saw the second day of localised “humanitarian pauses” on Monday to facilitate a vaccination drive after the first confirmed polio case in 25 years, AFP reports.

However, an AFP correspondent reported overnight air strikes and the civil defence agency said an Israeli strike near a school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed five people.

Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 87,000 children received a first vaccine dose on Sunday in central Gaza.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called the inoculation campaign a “race against time to reach just over 600,000 children” in the conflict-torn territory of 2.4 million people.

Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, visited Gaza on Monday and said “civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict”. “I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza.” He also condemned “the tragic killing of six hostages in Gaza by Palestinian armed groups”.

 A displaced Palestinian mother, Wafaa Abdelhadi, walks past the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike as she returns to her shelter with her daughters Lynn and Roueida, after they got vaccinated against polio, in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on Sept 1, 2024. — Reuters/Ramadan Abed
A displaced Palestinian mother, Wafaa Abdelhadi, walks past the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike as she returns to her shelter with her daughters Lynn and Roueida, after they got vaccinated against polio, in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on Sept 1, 2024. — Reuters/Ramadan Abed

Opinion

Geopolitical shift in ME

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A prolonged conflict will have far-reaching implications for regional geopolitics, sharpening the divisions among Gulf countries that are directly affected by the tensions.

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