4 children injured in Israeli strike near Gaza polio vaccine clinic, WHO says
Multiple children were injured in an Israeli bombing near a vaccination clinic in northern Gaza, aid organizations reported, as the second round of a campaign to vaccinate children against polio kicked off on Saturday.
"We have received an extremely concerning report that the Sheikh Radwan primary health care centre in northern #Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the life-saving #polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed," Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement posted to X on Saturday.
The strike injured six people, including four children, he added.
At least 23 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes throughout the enclave on Sunday, with at least 13 killed in the northern city of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, local medics reported. In one of the deadliest strikes in the conflict yet, at least 93 people were killed after Israel pummeled a residential building in Beit Lahiya with bombs in late October.
Israel's Defense Forces denied carrying out the Saturday strike near the polio vaccination drive, which was also reported by Gaza's Health Ministry.
"Contrary to the claims, an initial review determined that the IDF did not strike in the area at the specified time," it said in a statement.
UNICEF, the United Nations' Children's Fund, said the vehicle of one of its staff members at work on the vaccination campaign also came under fire "by what we believe to be a quadcopter" drone while driving through Jabalia, the site of a refugee camp that has come under heavy Israeli fire in recent weeks.
"The car was damaged. Fortunately, the staff member was not injured. But she has been left deeply shaken," UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
The two organizations are at the helm of a campaign to vaccinate children against polio after the paralyzing disease, long-eliminated in the U.S. and other parts of the world, reemerged amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Around 560,000 children in the enclave were inoculated in the first phase of the vaccination drive over 12 days in September, according to the WHO. Israel reported on Monday more than 58,600 children under 10 have been vaccinated in the last three days.
The latest phase of the vaccination drive was originally scheduled to begin Oct. 23, but was postponed due to "lack of access and assured, comprehensive humanitarian pauses, intense bombardment, and mass evacuation orders," making conditions "impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination and to organize campaign activities," WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement.
Israel arrests 2 in Syria, Lebanon raids
The death toll in Gaza stands at 43,000 since Israel went to war on Hamas in response to a surprise attack last Oct. 7 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 abducted.
Longstanding tensions in the region surged after the attack, as Hamas' allies fired back at Israel – Hezbollah has fired near-daily rockets at northern Israel from Lebanese territory, with Israel responding with a crushing wave of airstrikes against the militant group that have killed almost 3,000 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
As the crisis deepened, Israel's military carried out a raid-by-boat in Lebanon and sent troops into Syria for the first time in the conflict this weekend.
Israeli naval forces launched a "special operation" in Batroun, a coastal village in northern Lebanon, landing by boat to capture one person, "a senior operative of Hezbollah, who serves as an expert in his field," an Israeli military official told Reuters.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement that Lebanese citizen Imad Amhaz was kidnapped from the village, and that Lebanese officials would launch an investigation and file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council.
Israeli soldiers also crossed into Syrian territory to arrest Ali Soleiman al-Assi, who Israel's military accused of spying for Iran in the border area between the two countries. His arrest "led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights," the IDF said in a Sunday statement.
Tensions between Israel and Iran remain at a boiling point, more than a week after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes into Iranian territory, the latest in a chain of retaliatory attacks after Iran fired a barrage of around 200 missiles at Israel in early October.
While Iran's government has yet to outline a responsive strike, Iran's government has increased threats against Israel and the U.S. in recent days. On Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened a "crushing response" to both countries.
"Enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the resistance front," he said.
Contributing: Reuters