Israeli strikes kill 48 in Gaza clashes ahead of polio vaccination campaign

Israeli strikes on Aug 31 killed at least 48 people in the Gaza Strip, as clashes took place ahead of the planned start of a polio vaccination campaign.

- 

The United Nations is due to start vaccinating some 640,000 children in Gaza against polio, relying on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in specific areas of the besieged enclave.

Dr Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, Gaza's deputy minister of health, said vaccination teams would try to get to as many areas as possible to ensure wide coverage, but he said only a comprehensive ceasefire could guarantee enough children are reached.

"If the international community truly wants this campaign to succeed, it should call for a ceasefire, knowing that this virus does not stop, and can reach anywhere," he told reporters at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

On Aug 31, medics administered vaccines on some of the children at Nasser Hospital in a symbolic move before the official campaign begins.