EU’s high rep calls for urgent ceasefire in Gaza

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said that the EU is urgently calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to facilitate the vaccination of all Palestinian children against polio. 

Borrell made these remarks during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“The EU calls for an immediate humanitarian pause to allow for the vaccination of all children in Gaza against polio. Gaza had been polio-free for 25 years until August 2024,” he added. On August 16, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the first confirmed case of polio in Gaza, affecting a 10-month-old infant in the central part of the territory.

This development came just hours after the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF jointly announced a polio vaccination campaign scheduled for late August and September. On August 27, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric revealed that the UN is preparing 11 medical centres in Gaza to administer the polio vaccine.

He estimated that more than 640,000 children under the age of 10 would receive the vaccine. The Palestine Red Crescent Society announced that the first phase of the vaccination campaign will commence on August 31.