Gaza war: 27 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes as polio vaccination resumes

Israeli military strikes killed at least 27 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, medics said, as health officials resumed vaccination of tens of thousands more children in the enclave against polio.

In Nuseirat, one of the territory's eight historic refugee camps, an Israeli airstrike killed two women and two children, while eight other people were killed in two other airstrikes in Gaza City, the medics said. The rest were killed in subsequent strikes across the enclave, they added.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces battled Hamas-led fighters in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City, where residents said tanks have been operating for over a week, in eastern Khan Younis, and in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, where residents said Israeli forces blew up several houses.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

Eleven months into the war, diplomacy has so far failed to conclude a ceasefire deal to end the conflict and bring the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza as well as many Palestinians jailed in Israel.

The two warring sides continued to blame one another for failing efforts by mediators, including Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The US is preparing to present a new ceasefire proposal to hammer out differences, but prospects of a breakthrough remain dim as gaps between the sides remain large.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that it was incumbent on both Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to say yes on remaining issues to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal.

Nearly 90% of the Gaza ceasefire deal is agreed, but critical issues remain where there are gaps, including the issue of the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said at a press briefing. Israel said it wouldn't leave the corridor and Hamas says an agreement isn't possible unless they did.

Vaccination campaign

Meanwhile, residents of Khan Younis and displaced families from Rafah, continued to crowd medical facilities, bringing their children to get the polio vaccines. The campaign was launched after the discovery of a case of a one-year-old baby who was partially paralyzed.

This was the first known case of the disease in Gaza — one of the world's most densely populated places — in 25 years. It re-emerged as Gaza's health system has virtually collapsed and many hospitals have been knocked out of action due to the war.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said at least 160,000 children received the drops in southern Gaza areas on Thursday where medical staffers began the second stage of the campaign, benefiting from an Israeli and Hamas agreement on limited pauses in the fighting.

• Amnesty urges war crimes probe over Israel levelling east Gaza