The main UN aid agency operating in Gaza has said that members of its polio vaccination convoy in Gaza were held at gunpoint by Israeli forces at a military checkpoint and shots were fired.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday that the Israeli military had detained a convoy of international and local staff members from various UN bodies at gunpoint as they traveled to northern Gaza to help roll out the polio vaccination campaign.
Dujarric also said that Israeli forces fired shots at the convoy, ramming the UN vehicles with bulldozers.
He held the Israeli regime accountable for what he described as yet another dangerous encounter that impeded their missions.
Dujarric said that the conduct of Israeli troops had endangered the lives of the UN staff and was contrary to mandated protections under international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, has also slammed the Israeli regime for the incident.
The agency stressed that the situation took place despite prior notification and coordination.
UNRWA said last month that 207 of its staff have been among more than 280 aid workers killed by Israel since its war on Gaza started last October.
Meanwhile, a Geneva-based human rights group said Israel keeps undermining the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, targeting areas designated as safe for providing vaccination to Palestinian children in northern areas of the territory.
The Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the last 25 years. Health experts say Israel’s destruction of the territory’s health and sanitation infrastructure has been behind the outbreak of the deadly disease.
