An immediate ceasefire is needed in Gaza as the enclave faces the additional threat of polio spreading, if the final phase of a vaccination campaign continues to face delays in reaching the besieged north, where the "nightmare is intensifying", top UN officials stressed on Thursday.
"It is imperative to stop the polio outbreak in Gaza before more children are paralysed and the virus spreads," said Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. "The vaccination campaign must be facilitated in the north through the implementation of humanitarian pauses."