Israel Bombs Polio Vaccination Center in Area Marked for Humanitarian Pause

As Israel continues to block lifesaving humanitarian aid from entering northern Gaza, humanitarian organizations are describing its siege as “apocalyptic” and warning of mass Palestinian starvation and death. “The situation is absolutely desperate,” says Rachael Cummings of the aid group Save the Children International. Cummings joins us from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where aid organizations have been halted from entering the north. She responds to news of Israel’s bombing of a polio vaccination center in an area that had been marked for an official humanitarian pause, and the Knesset’s vote to ban the U.N. relief agency UNRWA.

TRANSCRIPT

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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

It was another deadly weekend in Gaza, where UNICEF reports more than 50 children were killed in Israeli strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the span of 48 hours. Two residential buildings sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians were reportedly leveled in the attack. UNICEF is also demanding Israel launch an immediate investigation after a vehicle driven by one of its staff members came under fire by an Israeli quadcopter flying above Jabaliya this weekend.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said at least four children were injured after Israeli forces dropped a stun grenade on a polio immunization center in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan district. Israel’s attack came despite agreeing to a humanitarian pause in order to carry out the final phase of the polio immunization campaign, after it was postponed in October due to Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment, siege and repeated targeting of humanitarian aid workers.

This is a Palestinian mother of three speaking from Gaza City.

AZHAR AL-NAJJAR: [translated] I stayed here in northern Gaza, along with all my children, and came here to give my children the polio vaccine. They were supposed to get it a month ago, but due to the Israeli offensive and the siege, it was delayed a month. We hope it will protect the children against polio. … I call on the world to stop the genocide of northern Gaza, because we are literally dying. Those who do not die from bombardments are dying from hunger. The situation is catastrophic.

AMY GOODMAN: Some 15,000 children under the age of 10 in towns across northern Gaza, including Jabaliya, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, still remain inaccessible and will likely not receive this dose of the oral polio vaccine due to Israel’s attacks and blockade.

This all comes as 15 humanitarian groups are describing the situation in northern Gaza as “apocalyptic,” with top U.N. officials again warning the entire Palestinian population in north Gaza is, quote, “at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence,” unquote. The region has been under an Israeli siege for nearly a month while Israel continues to block lifesaving humanitarian aid from entering north Gaza. Aid groups fear the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza will soon worsen, as Israel has officially notified the U.N. that it’s cut off ties to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestine refugees.

We go directly to Deir al-Balah in Gaza, where we’re joined by Rachael Cummings, Save the Children International humanitarian director and team lead there in Gaza.

Rachael, can you describe what’s happening on the ground and what you’re calling for?

RACHAEL CUMMINGS: Hello, and thanks for the opportunity.

I mean, we are calling for a ceasefire, a definitive ceasefire. You know, children in Gaza are facing an extraordinary situation. You’ve described it extremely well in terms of the constant onslaught and bombardment of children in Gaza, in the north, in the middle area and in the south of Gaza, across the whole of the Gaza Strip. You know, we have over 14,000 children who have been killed. You referenced the 50 children who were killed most recently in an attack in a shelter in the north of Gaza. But this is a constant bombardment, and children are dying every single day. There is not enough food in Gaza. There is not enough water and clean water for people in Gaza. The situation is absolutely desperate.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, what exactly has to happen at this moment? Describe the level of aid you can get and the polio immunization programs being stopped because of the bombardment.

RACHAEL CUMMINGS: You know, the fact that the center that was providing the polio vaccines was attacked at this time is unfathomable. It’s extraordinary that that event has happened. And, of course, that will have a knock-on effect and an impact, not only the people that were impacted at that time, but then the faith and the trust for women and parents and family members take their children to health centers. They know it’s very important, obviously, for children to be vaccinated. But with the attacks on healthcare that are persistent, people will have lost faith and trust in the safety or the presumed safety of going to healthcare facilities to receive vaccines. So, the knock-on effects on that will be massive.

Now, what we need is improved access to humanitarian supplies, bring supplies in to Gaza, and then, of course, safe passage of those supplies and of our teams to be able to then reach the populations who are most in need. Every day, humanitarian workers, Save the Children, our staff, our partners and other humanitarian workers across the whole of Gaza are literally risking their lives to deliver lifesaving services to children and their families. This is an extraordinary and a very unique situation that we’re seeing in Gaza.

To be a child in Gaza — and I’m in Deir al-Balah at the moment, in the middle area of the Gaza Strip — it’s a miserable existence for children. They’re living under this constant fear. They’ve had no formal education for over 12 months now. So, that normality of life, that routine and education provides protection to children, not only for their physical health, but also for their mental health. We’re deeply, deeply concerned about the mental health of 1 million children in Gaza. Every single child in Gaza has been affected by this war.

AMY GOODMAN: And if you could comment more on the targeting of humanitarian aid workers and Israel now officially notifying the U.N. it’s cut off ties with UNRWA? How important is UNRWA in getting aid to and being observers on the ground to what’s happening there in Gaza, where you are?

RACHAEL CUMMINGS: It’s hard to quantify or describe how important, how essential UNRWA is for the humanitarian endeavor, the humanitarian response in Gaza. But Gaza is and has been for many decades, of course, wholly reliant and integrated within UNRWA, or, rather, UNRWA is integrated within the whole of Gaza and the Palestinian population. So, as humanitarian agencies, we heavily rely on UNRWA to receive fuel, to support on coordination of access and movement of supplies. So, UNRWA are a huge provider of lifesaving services. Every day, they’re providing over 15,000 consultations in the health facilities. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in the UNRWA-designated shelter system or previous UNRWA schools. Every sort of strand of society is wrapped up with UNRWA. So, the cessation of UNRWA in terms of providing humanitarian lifesaving support for the population here is extraordinary to even consider.

AMY GOODMAN: Rachael Cummings, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Save the Children’s international humanitarian director and team lead in Gaza, speaking to us from Deir al-Balah.