Israeli Airstrikes Kill Dozens in Gaza as Polio Vaccination Campaign Nears

Jerusalem — Israeli airstrikes Saturday killed at least 49 people in central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials, as fierce fighting continues ahead of a massive, polio vaccination campaign.

The United Nations is preparing to inoculate about 640,000 children in Gaza against polio. The campaign is contingent on daily eight-hour breaks in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas to which both sides have agreed.

Gaza's deputy health minister, Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, said only a complete cease-fire could ensure the campaign's success, and he implored the international community to push for an end to the violence.

In addition to upwards of 30 deaths from assorted Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, medics at the Nuseirat refugee camp — one of eight such camps in the strip — reported at least 19 others were killed in separate strikes, including nine members of one family.

Additionally, fighting was reported in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood and near the Rafah border with Egypt. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants and dismantling military infrastructure in Gaza City and Tel Al-Sultan in Rafah.

Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages in their October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Israel responded with an air and land assault on Hamas-governed Gaza. Gaza health officials say more than 40,600 people have been killed, most of them women and children. Israel says the majority of the dead are combatants.

Nearly three-quarters of Gaza's 2.3 million people are displaced and nearly the entire population is at risk of famine, according to the United Nations.

Violence in West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military announced Saturday that two Palestinians were killed overnight while allegedly preparing bombings. Their deaths came on the fourth day of a major Israeli military operation aimed at stopping attacks by Iranian-backed militant groups.

Since the operation began Wednesday, at least 19 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, have been killed.

The situation in Gaza remains tense, with Israeli troops continuing their battles against Hamas fighters. Hamas praised a recent operation in the southern West Bank as "heroic." Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, called the operation a "coordinated attack."

The Israeli military reported two major incidents.

In one, a vehicle exploded at a service station in Gush Etzion in what was described as an attempted car bombing. An army officer and reserve officer were injured.

In another attack, the head of security at the Israeli settlement of Karmei Zur said he chased and killed a "terrorist" who had entered the settlement.

The Israeli army said that, since Wednesday, it has killed at least 20 Palestinians, mostly militants, in raids across several cities in the northern West Bank.

Operations have focused on Jenin and its refugee camps, which are known for their resistance against Israeli forces.

On Saturday morning, an Agence France-Presse photographer in Jenin reported ongoing clashes. He said the streets were mostly empty except for armored vehicles, including one blocking the path leading to the government hospital.

Airstrike in Southern Gaza 

In southern Gaza, the group American Near East Refugee Aid, or Anera, said that an Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians Friday in the lead vehicle of an convoy delivering food and fuel to a hospital.

Anera said the convoy was following a "coordinated and cleared transport plan" with unarmed security guards. Israeli authorities said the vehicle was carrying weapons.

Despite the attack, the convoy delivered aid to the Emirati-run hospital in Rafah.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, warned that attacks on aid workers are severely limiting aid delivery in Gaza.

OCHA underscored that the attacks endanger aid workers and impede efforts to assist more than 2 million people in need.

In response, the World Health Organization announced that Israel has agreed to at least three days of "humanitarian pauses" starting Sunday to allow polio vaccinations to be given in Gaza.

Earlier, the IDF reported the killing of a local Hamas commander and two other militants in an airstrike in Jenin. The IDF said Wassem Hazem, head of Hamas in Jenin, was involved in attacks against Israeli forces.

Since late Tuesday, IDF operations have resulted in 16 deaths, mostly militants.

The IDF's ongoing operations in the northern West Bank and Jordan Valley are targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad and their attempts to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers.

VOA's Margaret Besheer and Natasha Mozgovaya contributed to this story. Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.