What to remember from Saturday, August 31

Polio vaccinations have begun in the Gaza Strip, ahead of a three-day “humanitarian pause” agreed to by Israel.

In the besieged Gaza Strip, devastated by nearly eleven months of war, polio vaccinations began on Saturday, August 31, while the UN announced a “humanitarian pause” three days starting Sunday. In the north of the occupied West Bank, fighting has been raging for four days. Franceinfo takes stock of the latest information relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Polio vaccinations begin in Gaza Strip

A Hamas health ministry official said polio vaccinations began in Gaza on Saturday. “Teams from the Ministry of Health, UNRWA and NGOs began the polio vaccination campaign on Saturday”said Dr. Moussa Abed, director of primary care in the Hamas government’s health ministry.

The vaccination campaign will be officially launched on Sunday, thanks to “humanitarian breaks” three days each, accepted by Israel, according to the World Health Organization. A first case of polio was recently confirmed in an infant in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory where the disease was eradicated twenty-five years ago. The UN has sent 1.2 million doses of oral vaccine.

Fourth day of fighting in the northern West Bank

On the sidelines of its offensive in Gaza, where the Civil Defense said Saturday it had extracted 29 bodies from the rubble, the Israeli army has been conducting a large-scale operation in the north of the occupied West Bank since Wednesday. It announced Saturday evening the death of one of its soldiers in this fighting. The army added that another soldier was “seriously injured” in the same “operation”, without giving further details.

Israeli forces claimed to have “eliminated” On the night of Friday to Saturday, two Palestinians were preparing to carry out two explosive attacks near settlements in the south of the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

The Israeli army launched this operation by sending columns of armored vehicles supported by aircraft to Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and their refugee camps, strongholds of armed groups active against the Israeli occupation. This operation, called “anti-terrorist” by the Israeli army, has sparked concern and protests from the international community.

Exchanges of fire between Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army

Exchanges of fire are frequent on the border between Israel and Lebanon. On Saturday, the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed to have launched “explosive-laden drones” on the Israeli barracks of Beit Hillel, “in response to enemy attacks” against southern Lebanon and “to the resulting fires”. According to the Israeli army, “An air target was identified, crossing Lebanon and falling in the Beit Hillel area. No damage or injuries were reported.”

RN Mayor Louis Aliot Refuses to Award Palestinian Photographer

The RN mayor of Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), Louis Aliot, has announced that he will refuse this year to award the Visa d’or of the city of Perpignan Rémi Ochlik 2024 to the Gazan photojournalist Loay Ayyoub during the Visa pour l’image festival, which opened on Saturday, reports France Bleu Roussillon. “I will not be presenting the award this year, neither I nor anyone from the city”he said, after explaining “to be very uncomfortable with the treatment of this war” by Palestinian photographer.