At a press conference, the Palestinian Minister for the sector, Majed Abu Ramadan, announced that the process will begin in the coming days with the support of numerous UN agencies, including the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

The plan is aimed at vaccinating all children under 10 years old in that territory, he explained.

Last week, the first case of polio was announced in a 10-month-old boy from the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.

Abu Ramadan warned that there could be hundreds of other cases in the area.

The brutal Israeli aggression is responsible for this crisis because it caused an unprecedented health catastrophe in the coastal enclave, the minister denounced.

In this regard, he highlighted the increase of diseases there due to the lack of medicines, drinking water, sanitary services and the accumulation of waste in the streets and around the overcrowded shelters.

The world must intervene to stop this barbaric attack and prepare the conditions to save lives, the official claimed.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a humanitarian ceasefire to launch a polio immunization campaign for more than 640,000 children in that region.

‘Preventing and containing the spread of polio will require a massive, coordinated and urgent effort,’ Guterres said in announcing that the agency is ready to start the vaccination process.

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