It was recently known that the first case of polio has been reported in Gaza, in a 10-month-old child who, like most children in Gaza, is not vaccinated against these deadly diseases. In a war-torn state where there is little to no medical care and resources available to prevent them, it is a dangerous environment to live in. On August 31^st, 2024, U.N. agencies declared they would start rolling out polio vaccines to children, which is a step in the right direction. Furthermore, Israel has agreed to pause fighting to focus on the administration of these vaccines. This is significant because no ceasefire has been negotiated so far in the Israel-Gaza war to stop the humanitarian crisis.

According to the Associated Press, “UN health and children’s agencies have called for seven-day pauses in the fighting” to be able to administer vaccines in a safe environment because it would be impossible to do so otherwise. Additionally, according to the BBC, “WHO said that it had reached an agreement with Israel for limited pauses in the fighting to allow the polio vaccination programme to take place…Each “humanitarian pause” is set to last from 06:00 until 15:00 local time over three days.”

This is a tremendous development towards the end of the war in Gaza because it creates hope for a permanent ceasefire. Because Israel is compromising on pausing the war to help treat children against the disease, it shows that Israel can be on the same page as the rest of the world. It has been reported that Israel is also vaccinating their soldiers against the disease and though it does not demonstrate much, it is enough to start to be hopeful that the end of war can be in sight. By acting together to fight polio, these states can realize that there are more dangers out there than their neighbors.

Although this temporary truce is applauded, things may not have taken such a drastic turn if the war did not occur in the first place. It is hard enough to mitigate an outbreak in the absence of active combat, let alone in one, it will be much more difficult to navigate the administration of all vaccines to children because the truce is not permanent, and its duration is not guaranteed. It is daunting to hear that a polio outbreak has the potential to stop the war in Gaza, even if only temporarily when other international measures have not been able to. If anything, every child in Gaza should get their vaccinations and war should not disrupt that. This potential outbreak is bigger than the war itself and should be resolved.

The Israel-Gaza war started on October 7^th, 2023, with no clear end in sight. Mass causalities are adding up every day. Palestinians are at the front of this war as they have no food, water, and resources to get by. They are being displaced with no access to medical care as well. Because of their survival priorities, they become unprepared for diseases that might arise in war-torn and unsanitary areas.

We can only hope that there is no polio outbreak in Gaza because it will add fuel to the ongoing fire. It says something that the appearance of a disease can pause fighting when no progress has been made with other diplomatic actions.