The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, reported that more than 150 children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023.
Lazzarini stated in a post on the platform X on Friday that Israeli attacks in the northern West Bank continue to impact Palestinian refugees in the region.
He mentioned that tens of thousands of residents from four refugee camps in the north have been affected by the Israeli attacks, and the infrastructure in those camps has also been damaged.
The UN official added that UNRWA has been forced to suspend its services in some West Bank camps.
Polio Vaccination Campaign
In another context, Richard Peppercorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, announced that the polio vaccination campaign, which will begin in early September, aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip in two phases.
Peppercorn explained during a press conference in Geneva on Friday that the campaign targets children under the age of ten and is conducted in cooperation between WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNRWA, and the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
He confirmed that preparations for the vaccination campaign have been completed, with 1.26 million doses of the vaccine and 500 vaccine carriers already delivered to Gaza.
He added that an additional 400,000 doses will arrive in Gaza soon, noting that a vaccination rate of no less than 90% is required to stop the outbreak and prevent the spread of polio.
Last Wednesday morning, the Israeli occupation army launched a large and ongoing military operation in the governorates of Tulkarm, Jenin, and Tubas in the northern West Bank, the largest since 2002, resulting in the deaths of 20 Palestinians so far.
The Israeli army has also intensified its assaults and incursions into cities and towns in the West Bank, coinciding with its destructive war on the Gaza Strip. These assaults have led to the deaths of more than 673 Palestinians, including 150 children, and the injury of more than 5,400 others, in addition to the arrest of about 10,000 more.
