World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said polio vaccination teams in Gaza must be “protected and allowed to conduct the upcoming campaign in Gaza safely”, Al Jazeera reports.

“We urge all parties to ensure their protection, and that of health facilities and children,” Tedros said in a post on social media, ahead of the first day of the campaign on Sunday.

The WHO chief made his call in a week that saw four security staff with an aid convoy killed in an Israeli air strike and a vehicle with the UN’s World Food Programme sprayed with Israeli bullets near a checkpoint.

Editorial

Updated 02 Aug, 2026

Urban flooding

THE warning from the disaster management and weather authorities that a new monsoon spell could trigger urban...
02 Aug, 2026

Fatal workplaces

THE methane explosion near Quetta that killed 34 coal miners is the latest entry in Pakistan’s long register of...
02 Aug, 2026

Dual standards

IT appears that the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has fallen foul of the Election Commission of Pakistan. A...
Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...