After talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu, US top diplomat Antony Blinken said “now is the time” to end the Gaza war Meanwhile, Israel says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah’s likely successor was killed three weeks ago.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that “intense bombardment” and “escalating violence” in northern Gaza have forced it to postpone the last phase of a child polio vaccination drive.
The necessary second round of vaccinations has been completed in central and southern Gaza. It had been due to begin on Wednesday in the north.
However, the WHO said it had been “compelled to postpone” the bid to give a second vaccine dose to 119,279 children in northern Gaza, where Israel has launched a major air and ground assault this month.
The UN health agency said the inoculation campaign was called off “due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza.”
“The current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, continue to jeopardize people’s safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination,” and for staff to operate, it added.
The vaccination drive began after the Gaza Strip confirmed its first case of polio in 25 years, with the war having left most medical facilities and sewage systems in the territory in ruins.
The highly infectious disease, mainly affecting children under the age of five, can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned that Lebanon is close to collapse after arriving for a visit to the country as Israel clashes with the militant group Hezbollah.
Baerbock is on her 12th trip to the Middle East since the Hamas attack of October 7 last year that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza and now against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is becoming more desperate by the day,” she said at the start of the trip, which was not previously announced because of security concerns.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing with their last belongings, children are being separated from their parents, hospitals are working at the limit of their capacity.”
“Lebanon is on the brink of collapse.”
Baerbock said Hamas allies Hezbollah are “hiding behind civilians and continuing to fire rockets at Israel.”
She also cautioned that Israel must operate within “the narrow limits of the right to self-defense and international humanitarian law”.
The minister said that “any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers violates international humanitarian law.”
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has accused Israel of attacking its peacekeepers multiple times in recent weeks.
“All parties to the conflict also have an obligation to protect UN peacekeepers,” said Baerbock. “The soldiers of UNIFIL have our full support. They are needed for a political solution to the conflict.”
