Gaza, Dec 25 (UNI)- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated 80,000 vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella for children aged up to six years in the Gaza Strip, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) of the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Monday.
“80,000 vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella, donated by @UNICEF, have arrived in the Gaza Strip Yesterday, December 24. We are here to support and facilitate humanitarian and medical initiatives for the people of Gaza,” the COGAT said on X.
Last week, UNICEF said that over 80% of children in the Gaza Strip were facing acute food shortages, 90% were experiencing water shortages, and half of the enclave’s sanitation and hygiene facilities were either damaged or destroyed.
At the same time, the World Health Organisation said that the spread of infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip was “inevitable” due to terrible sanitary conditions and shortage of clean drinking water.
On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas fired rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 20,400 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. Over 100 hostages are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, according to Israel.
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