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A polio outbreak was confirmed in Gaza yesterday, along with new evacuation orders and the imminent closure of one of the few hospitals still operating, as ceasefire negotiations continue amid blame games between Israel and Hamas.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, based in Ramallah (West Bank), recorded late Friday evening the first case of polio in the Gaza Strip, which has been free of the disease for 25 years.
The humanitarian crisis caused by the lack of access to basic resources also extends to access to fuel, which is hampering the work of hospitals across the Strip, with only 16 of the 36 hospitals in the Strip partially functioning. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel last night to continue his country’s “intensive diplomatic efforts” as a mediator in the negotiations aimed at a ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli negotiating team met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday on the way back from the Doha meetings to discuss the ceasefire agreement and expressed “cautious optimism.” In doing so, the Israeli delegation expressed its position on the “latest American proposal” put forward by President Joe Biden, which will attempt to reconcile the positions between the Hebrew state and Hamas.
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