In the besieged Gaza Strip, devastated by nearly eleven months of war, polio vaccinations began Saturday, August 31, while the UN announced a three-day “humanitarian pause” starting Sunday. In the north of the occupied West Bank, fighting has been raging for four days. Franceinfo takes stock of the latest information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Polio vaccinations begin in the Gaza Strip
A Hamas Health Ministry official said that polio vaccinations began Saturday in Gaza. “Teams from the Ministry of Health, UNRWA and NGOs began the polio vaccination campaign on Saturday,” said Dr. Moussa Abed, director of primary care in the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government.
The vaccination campaign will officially launch Sunday, during “humanitarian pauses” of three days each, accepted by Israel, according to the World Health Organization. A first case of polio was recently confirmed in an infant in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory where the disease was eradicated twenty-five years ago. The UN has sent 1.2 million doses of oral vaccine.
Fourth day of fighting in the northern West Bank
In addition to its offensive in Gaza, where the Civil Defense said Saturday it had extracted 29 bodies from the rubble, the Israeli army has been conducting a large-scale operation in the northern occupied West Bank since Wednesday. It announced Saturday evening the death of one of its soldiers in this fighting. The army added that another soldier was “seriously injured” in the same “operation” without giving further details.
Israeli forces claimed to have “eliminated” two Palestinians on the night of Friday to Saturday, who were preparing to carry out two explosive attacks near settlements in the southern West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Israeli army launched this operation by sending columns of armored vehicles supported by aircraft to Jenin, Tulkarem, Toubas and their refugee camps, strongholds of armed groups active against the Israeli occupation. This operation, described as “anti-terrorist” by the Israeli army, has raised concerns and protests from the international community.
Exchanges of fire between Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army
Exchanges of fire are frequent on the border between Israel and Lebanon. On Saturday, the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed to have launched “explosive-laden drones” at the Israeli barracks in Beit Hillel, “in response to enemy attacks” against southern Lebanon and “the resulting fires.” According to the Israeli army, “an aerial target was identified, crossing Lebanon and falling in the Beit Hillel region. No damage or injuries were reported.”
RN Mayor Louis Aliot Refuses to Present an Award to a Palestinian Photographer
The RN Mayor of Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), Louis Aliot, has announced that he will refuse this year to present the 2024 Perpignan City Visa d’Or Rémi Ochlik to Gazan photojournalist Loay Ayyoub during the Visa pour l’image festival, which opened on Saturday, reports France Bleu Roussillon. “I will not be presenting the award this year, neither I nor anyone from the city,” he said, after explaining that he was “very uncomfortable with the treatment of this war” by the Palestinian photographer.
This article is originally published on francetvinfo.fr
