Despite the World Health Organisation’s announcement last Thursday that Israel had consented to a series of “humanitarian truces” lasting three days each in the central, southern, and northern sections of the Strip in order to carry out a polio vaccination campaign that would benefit 640,000 children, Israel has continued its attacks.

Together with shooting from Israeli vehicles that broke through the northwest of Nuseirat and from quadcopter aircraft, Israeli artillery also shelled the west of the new camp in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip.

Along with the ongoing shelling in various parts of the Strip, these Israeli military attacks have coincided with the peak of families’ movement with their children towards the designated vaccination centres. Some of these attacks have even targeted locations near the vaccination centres, endangering the progress of the vaccination process that is required to stop the poliovirus from spreading among Palestinian children in the besieged enclave.

Following its initial attacks, Israel is still targeting Palestinian clinics and hospitals where Palestinians are supposed to go for children’s vaccinations. The most recent incident took place at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Saturday 31 August, leaving three Palestinians killed and numerous others injured.