On Aug. 30, 2024, the United Nations (UN) announced that polio vaccination will begin for some 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip. The vaccination campaign relies on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in specific areas of the besieged enclave.

The complex campaign, which is targeting children under age 10, followed confirmation that a baby was paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years. WHO officials said at least 90% of the children need to be vaccinated twice with four weeks between doses for the campaign to succeed, but it faces huge challenges in Gaza, which has seen its infrastructure for water and sanitation largely destroyed by nearly 11 months of war.