Palestinians say Israel attacked a clinic in Gaza during a polio campaign. The army denies

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian officials say an Israeli drone has attacked a clinic in northern Gaza where children are kept were vaccinated against polio injured six people, including four children. The Israeli military denied responsibility.

The alleged attack took place in northern Gaza on Saturday surrounded by Israeli troops and largely isolated for the past year. Israel has launched a new offensive Hundreds of people have died there in recent weeks and tens of thousands have been displaced.

It was not possible to resolve the conflicting accounts. Israeli Defense Forces have repeatedly raided hospitals in Gaza over the course of the war, saying Hamas is using them for militant purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.

Dr. Munir al-Boursh, director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told The Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan Clinic in Gaza City early Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after a United Nations delegation entered the facility had left.

The World Health Organization and the UN children’s agency known as UNICEF, which are jointly implementing the polio vaccination campaign, expressed concern over the reported strike.

“The reports of this attack are even more disturbing because the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is one of the health centers where parents can get their children vaccinated,” said Rosalia Bollen, spokesperson for UNICEF.

“Today’s attack took place while the humanitarian pause was still in effect, despite assurances that the pause would be respected from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.”

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that “contrary to claims, an initial investigation showed that the (Israeli army) did not strike in the area at the stated time.”

A scaled-down campaign to administer a second dose of the polio vaccine began in parts of northern Gaza on Saturday. It was postponed until October 23 due to lack of access, Israeli bombing and mass evacuation orders, and the lack of guarantees for humanitarian breaks, a UN statement said.

The administration of the first dose was carried out in September across the Gaza Strip, including areas in northern Gaza that are now under complete lockdown. Health officials said the first round of the campaign and the administration of the second dose in central and southern Gaza were successful.

At least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate from areas of northern Gaza to Gaza City in recent weeks, but around 15,000 children under the age of 10 remain in inaccessible northern towns, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. according to the UN

The final phase of the polio vaccination campaign aimed to reach an estimated 119,000 children in the north with a second dose of oral polio vaccine, the agencies said, but “achieving this goal is now unlikely due to access restrictions.”

They say 90% of children in every community need to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.

The campaign was then launched the first polio case was reported in Gaza in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in his leg. The World Health Organization said the presence of one paralysis case suggests there could be hundreds more who are infected but not showing symptoms.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Say how many fighters there were, but say that more than half were women and children.

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