Israeli troops fire shots at UN polio convoy in Gaza

The main UN aid agency operating in Gaza has said that members of its polio vaccination convoy in Gaza were held at gunpoint by Israeli forces at a military checkpoint and shots were fired.

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday that the Israeli military had detained a convoy of international and local staff members from various UN bodies at gunpoint as they traveled to northern Gaza to help roll out the polio vaccination campaign.

Dujarric also said that Israeli forces fired shots at the convoy, ramming the UN vehicles with bulldozers.  

He held the Israeli regime accountable for what he described as yet another dangerous encounter that impeded their missions.

Dujarric said that the conduct of Israeli troops had endangered the lives of the UN staff and was contrary to mandated protections under international humanitarian law.

He said Israeli forces stopped the convoy at a checkpoint and added that they wanted to hold two of its members for questioning.

“The situation escalated very quickly, with soldiers pointing their weapons directly towards our personnel in the convoy,” he said.  

“The UN vehicles were encircled by Israeli forces and shots were fired,” he added.

He went on to say that the convoy was then approached by Israeli tanks and a bulldozer, “which proceeded to ram the UN vehicles from the front and from the back, compacting the convoy with UN staff inside.”

Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, has also slammed the Israeli regime for the incident.

The agency stressed that the situation took place despite prior notification and coordination.

UNRWA said last month that 207 of its staff have been among more than 280 aid workers killed by Israel since its war on Gaza started last October.

Meanwhile, a Geneva-based human rights group said Israel keeps undermining the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, targeting areas designated as safe for providing vaccination to Palestinian children in northern areas of the territory. 

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor posted a thread on social media platform X on Tuesday, saying Israeli forces “bombed a food stall in the Tuffah neighborhood located between 3 deconflicted centers.”

The area, it said was “designated as safe for providing Polio vaccination to children in Northern Gaza.”

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said over 446,000 children were given polio vaccines in south Gaza. He said the preparation for the start of the vaccination campaign in the area is ongoing.

The WHO chief also said that children in Gaza “deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines.”

He called for maintaining humanitarian pauses and respecting the safety of health workers.

The Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the last 25 years. Health experts say Israel’s destruction of the territory’s health and sanitation infrastructure has been behind the outbreak of the deadly disease.

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