A 10-month-old child in Gaza, born amid an ongoing and severe blockade, has been paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus. This tragic development underscores the catastrophic impact of Israel’s continued blockade, which has left Gaza’s health and sanitation systems in ruins and its population vulnerable to outbreaks of preventable diseases.
The child was born around the time last year that Israel ordered a total blockade on all humanitarian aid to Gaza. The blockade has severely restricted access to essential medical supplies, including vaccines, making it impossible for doctors to maintain vaccination schedules for children. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed Friday that the child, now 10 months old, “has lost movement in their lower left leg after contracting polio.”
Health officials had warned for weeks that the type 2 polio virus had been detected in wastewater in Gaza, a result of the complete destruction of health and sanitation systems. The virus, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, can invade the nervous system, leading to paralysis. The collapse of sanitation services has left the population particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza since last October has targeted homes, schools, and hospitals, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The assault and near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and medications, “has made it impossible for doctors to maintain vaccination schedules for children,” putting children under the age of five most at risk for polio.
“Even if Israeli authorities let polio vaccines in, with the biggest responders in Gaza constantly pin-balled from one place to the next, how can we deliver an effective campaign and reach the children in dire need of that protection?” This statement from Jeremy Stoner, Middle East regional director for Save the Children, reflects the significant challenges faced by healthcare providers in Gaza. The blockade has not only limited the availability of vaccines but has also made it nearly impossible to carry out an effective vaccination campaign.
Last month, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that traces of the virus had been detected in sewage in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Despite these warnings, the situation has only worsened. After the child’s diagnosis with polio was reported last week, the United Nations called for a temporary pause in fighting to allow for a vaccination campaign—a demand supported by Hamas. However, Israeli forces on Thursday issued the latest evacuation order for Deir al-Balah, where the child now paralyzed by the disease has been living.
The United Nations has reported that the mass forced displacement of people in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah this month “has disrupted critical health services, including polio vaccination campaigns, in some of the only parts of Gaza that still have operating infrastructure.” This disruption further complicates efforts to protect Gaza’s children from the virus.
The WHO announced on Friday that it intends to work with other UN agencies to begin two rounds of a polio vaccination campaign across Gaza in late August and September. Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), emphasized the critical need to reach all children: “It is not enough to bring the vaccines into Gaza. To have an impact, the vaccines must end up in the mouths of every child under the age of 10. UNRWA medical teams will deliver the vaccines in our clinics and through our mobile health teams.”
Akshaya Kumar, crisis advocacy manager for Human Rights Watch, noted the dire circumstances under which the paralyzed child has lived, stating that the child “has only known Gaza under siege, under aerial bombardment, and under evacuation order.”
Until now, there had been no confirmed cases of polio in Gaza for more than two decades. Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh contextualized the broader implications of the situation, stating, “Genocide is a process, and it’s not just about the number of those slaughtered.”
COMMENTS