Middle East: Gaza polio vaccinations resume amid strikes – DW – 11/03/2024

Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign continued on Sunday, amid reports of an Israeli strike targeting one vaccination tent clinic.

UNICEF and the Israeli military authority COGAT, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, said on Sunday that more than 58,600 children under the age of 10 had so far been vaccinated against polio since the campaign resumed on Saturday.

But the vaccination drive was marred by ongoing fighting and reports of a strike hitting a tent clinic.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X on Saturday that his organization had been made aware of the reported attack, in which six people, including children, were reportedly injured.

Palestinian authorities blamed Israeli forces for the attack, but an IDF spokesman on Sunday said Israel’s military was not active in the area at the time. 

“The IDF is aware of claims regarding the injury of Palestinian civilians in the Sheikh Radwan vaccination center in the northern Gaza Strip. Contrary to the claims, an initial review determined that the IDF did not strike in the area at the specified time,” IDF International Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in response to Tedros’ announcement. 

jcg/msh (AFP, Reuters, dpa, AP)

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed in an Israeli strike near the southern city of Sidon. It was part of the latest attacks on southern Lebanon on Sunday.

The nearby Haret Saida was also hit.

“The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in an initial death toll of three people killed and nine others injured,” Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported an Israeli strike on the town of Ghaziyeh.

The strikes on southern Lebanon, including that of Haret Saida, were not preceded by an Israeli warning to evacuate.

But Israel’s military did issue a warning for eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek area, saying it would target Hezbollah-linked facilities. Baalbek is a Hezbollah stronghold that has seen heavy air raids over the past few days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday. During the visit, he stressed that Israel’s goal was to keep Hezbollah from rearming itself through the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons transferred to Lebanon via Syria.

Netanyahu also said Israel would respond “firmly” to Hezbollah’s attacks, while saying the militant group must retreat.

“I want to be clear: With or without an agreement, the key to restoring peace and security in the north … is first and foremost to push Hezbollah back beyond the Litani River, secondly to target any attempt to rearm, and thirdly to respond firmly to any action taken against us,” Netanyahu told troops at the border, according to a statement from his office.