GAZA CITY, Palestine 

Nearly 443,000 children received the first dose of polio vaccine in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

However, the ministry has been waiting for Israeli approval for the last four days to coordinate access to seven additional areas in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

“Some 443,000 children have received the first dose of the polio vaccine in Gaza, which constitutes 69% of the total number of children under the age of 10,” Mousa Abed, general director of primary health care at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Anadolu.

Abed added: "The first phase of the vaccination campaign in the central area achieved results exceeding expectations, with 195,000 children vaccinated, which is more than the expected target of 160,000 children.”

He attributed this to "an increase in the number of displaced people in central Gaza due to military operations in other areas and the Israeli evacuation orders issued after preparing the vaccination campaign plan."

“There are four fixed vaccination points in the central area to vaccinate children,” Abed added.

He explained: “Medical teams were able to vaccinate 248,000 children in Rafah and Khan Younis by Saturday evening, and efforts are ongoing to complete the campaign and update the statistics after their work on Sunday.”

Abed clarified that "the campaign in southern Gaza aims to vaccinate 300,000 children."

He pointed out "some challenges in the eastern areas classified by the Israeli army as red zones."

Abed added: “We were able to reach some of these areas and vaccinate children there after coordinating with the Israeli side, but there are other areas for which we have not yet received approval, such as Khaza’a town east of Khan Younis.”

The ministry “received Israeli approval to access some areas in Rafah and east of Khan Younis, but the time given was very short to vaccinate all the targeted children,” he added.

The official said the Ministry of Health and its partner organizations are still waiting for approval to access seven other areas in eastern Khan Younis and the city of Rafah, despite four days having passed since the coordination request was submitted.

Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 41,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 94,800 others, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​​​​​​​​