Gaza’s polio outbreak will not spare Israelis : Foreign Policy | Al Mayadeen English
▻https://english.almayadeen.net/news/health/gaza-s-polio-outbreak-will-not-spare-israelis--foreign-polic
Serait-ce la raison pour laquelle les Israéliens se montrent tout à coup si sensibles au sort des enfants de Gaza (▻https://seenthis.net/messages/1068101)
At the beginning of August, Gaza’s Health Ministry declared a polio virus epidemic along the Strip, linked with “Israel’s” ongoing genocide. Essentially, the spread of the disease is more susceptible due to the destruction of healthcare and public health infrastructure by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
In a recent analysis report, Foreign Policy stated that the poliovirus outbreak will not only affect Gazans but will also extend to infecting hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
The polio virus is a life-threatening disease characterized by the paralysis of limbs and, in some cases, lungs. Polio is an incurable, contagious disease that enables a single individual to infect several hundreds of others simultaneously through silent transmission.
Although the disease has dissipated in developed countries, it poses a risk for the Israeli regime due to its ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, population that is generally opposed to vaccinations, leaving around 175,000 children vulnerable to the illness.
The Haredim make up 17% of Israeli Jews and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs their support to maintain his power. Essentially, his government has exempted the group from immunization programs against various vaccine-preventable ailments and viruses, including polio, COVID-19, and influenza, despite their threat to domestic and global health.
Vaccination exemptions and Netanyahu’s refusal to implement a permanent ceasefire to end the occupation’s ongoing aggression in Gaza have put “Israel” at risk of contracting polio.
Issues with the three-day humanitarian pause, vaccination campaigns
The Israeli occupation (IOF) and Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas have agreed to three separate, localized three-day ceasefires in the Gaza Strip to enable the immunization of around 640,000 children against polio, WHO official Rik Peeperkorn announced on Thursday.
Despite the temporary halt on Israeli aggression to carry out vaccination campaigns, Foreign Policy stated that it is unlikely parents would risk bringing their children to the designated vaccination sites while the occupation continues to carry out its genocide in other areas in Gaza. Additionally, the aggression prevents healthcare workers in Gaza’s displaced population from obtaining the necessary vaccinations to combat the outbreak.
Shortly after the detection of the poliovirus in Gaza’s sewers, the Israeli government launched a vaccination campaign for IOF soldiers returning from the Strip. However, despite these optional shots protecting some soldiers from contracting the virus, this did not prevent them from spreading the disease in “Israel,” turning them into carriers of the deadly, contagious disease.
Foreign Policy speculated that a potential polio outbreak in “Israel” may provide Netanyahu with a strong incentive to establish prolonged humanitarian pauses to carry out mass vaccination initiatives that may lead to a permanent ceasefire.
