GENEVA: UNICEF said on Tuesday essential items including syringes to vaccinate children and bottles for baby formula are being denied entry into Gaza by Israel, preventing aid agencies from reaching those in need in the war-devastated territory.
As UNICEF undertakes a mass children’s vaccination campaign with a fragile ceasefire in place, it said it faces serious challenges getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials into Gaza. The syringes have awaited customs clearance since August, UNICEF said.
“Both the syringes and the ... refrigerators are considered dual-use by Israel and these items we’re finding very hard to get them through clearances and inspections, yet they are urgent,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said.
“Dual-use” refers to items Israel deems to have possible military as well as civilian applications.
COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it is not limiting the entry of food, water, medical supplies and shelter items. It has also accused Hamas of stealing humanitarian supplies, accusations the Palestinian militant group denies.
UNICEF launched the first of three rounds of catch-up immunizations on Sunday to reach over 40,000 children under three who missed routine vaccines against polio, measles and pneumonia, following two years of war in Gaza.
On the first day of the campaign it reached over 2,400 children with multiple vaccines.
“The vaccination campaign has started, but we have two rounds to go, and for that we need more supplies,” Pires said.
UNICEF said more humanitarian aid is getting into Gaza but some critical items continued to be denied entry by Israeli authorities, including 938,000 bottles of ready-to-use infant formula and spare parts for water trucks.
“That’s nearly one million bottles that could be reaching children who have been suffering from different levels of malnutrition,” Pires told a news briefing in Geneva.
The October 10 truce was meant to unleash a massive surge of aid across the enclave, but relief agencies have repeatedly said not enough is getting in to meet the needs of a largely displaced and malnourished population of 2 million.
UNICEF says Israel blocking one million syringes needed to vaccinate Gaza children
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UNICEF says Israel blocking one million syringes needed to vaccinate Gaza children
- As UNICEF undertakes a mass children’s vaccination campaign with a fragile ceasefire in place, it said it faces serious challenges getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials into Gaza
Iran offers concessions on nuclear program
- Atomic energy chief says it will dilute enriched uranium if US eases sanctions
TEHRAN: Iran offered on Monday to dilute its highly enriched uranium if the US lifts sanctions.
Mohammad Eslami, head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization, did not specify whether this included all sanctions on Iran or only those imposed by the US.
The new move follows talks on the issue in Oman last week that both sides described as positive and constructive.
Diluting uranium means mixing it with blend material to reduce the enrichment level, so that the final product does not exceed a given enrichment threshold.
Before US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities in June last year, Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, far exceeding the 3.67 percent limit allowed under the now-defunct nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.
According to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Iran is the only state without nuclear weapons that is enriching uranium to 60 percent.
The whereabouts of more than 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that Iran possessed before the war is also unknown. UN inspectors last recorded its location on June 10. Such a stockpile could allow Iran to build more than nine nuclear bombs if enrichment reached 90 percent.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians on Monday to resist foreign pressure.
“National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and resolve of the people,” Khamenei said. “Show it again and frustrate the enemy.”
Nevertheless, despite this defiance, Iran has signaled it could come to some kind of deal to dial back its nuclear program and avoid further conflict with Washington.
