World Health Organisation WHO has announced three-day pause in Gaza war for polio vaccination

A senior UN World Health Organization official says Israeli military and Hamas have agreed to three-day pauses in fighting in Gaza Strip to allow for vaccination of some 640,000 children under 10 against polio

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s representative in Palestinian territories, said the so-called “humanitarian pauses” will start Sunday in central Gaza and last just eight or nine hours each day for three days.

That will be followed by another similar pause in southern Gaza and then another in northern Gaza.

Peeperkorn told reporters via video conference that health workers -more than 2,000 from UN agencies and Gaza’s Health Ministry- might need additional days to complete the vaccinations.

The WHO stressed that at least 90% of children in Gaza should be vaccinated to stop transmission of polio.