Israel, Hamas agree to zoned three-day pauses in Gaza war — Here’s why

The Gaza war will see three limited ‘humanitarian pauses’ in September as authorities race to vaccinate more than 640,000 children against polio. The development came after polio was detected in an unvaccinated baby earlier this week — the first case to be reported from the territory in more than 25 years.

Fighting in central Gaza will be halted from 6 am to 3:00 pm for three days starting September 1 in order to carry out the vaccination campaign. This will be followed by a separate three-day pause in southern Gaza and then another in northern Gaza.

“We have had discussions with Israeli authorities and we have agreed to humanitarian pauses... for three days. I am not going to say this is the ideal way forward. But this is a workable way forward... We have to stop transmission in Gaza and outside Gaza. Of course, all parties will have to stick to this. We have to make sure that every day, we can do this campaign in this humanitarian pause... It is an ambitious target of 90% but the teams here are ready for it. We are ready to go” the UN News service quoted Dr Rik Peeperkorn — the head of WHO for West Bank and Gaza — as saying.

The move was ‘welcomed’ by Hamas and the militant orgaisation told Reuters that it was “ready to cooperate” with international bodies in order to implement the vaccination campaign. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday night the new measures were “not a ceasefire”.

The campaign comes after 10-month-old Abdel-Rahman Abu El-Jedian was partially paralysed by a mutated strain of the virus this month. The baby had not been vaccinated as he was born after the war began on October 7 — one of hundreds of thousands of children who missed vaccinations. According to the World Health Organisation, officials will need to vaccinate at least 90% of children in Gaza to stop the transmission of polio.

Israel launched its offensive against Gaza nearly a year ago after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Data from the Palestinians enclave indicates that the ensuing war has killed more than 40,000 people on the Gaza strip — including thousands of children.

(With inputs from agencies)