The Ministry of Health recorded the first case of polio virus in the southern governorates, in the city of Deir al-Balah, for a 10-month-old child who had not received any polio vaccination dose. Doctors suspected the presence of symptoms consistent with polio, and after conducting the necessary tests in the Jordanian capital, Amman, the infection with the polio virus strain derived from the vaccine was confirmed.

The ministry confirmed in a statement that it will implement a vaccination campaign in the coming few days targeting children under the age of 10 years, as one million and two hundred thousand doses of the second type of polio vaccine have been provided in coordination with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and work is underway to provide another four hundred thousand doses.

The Ministry of Health stressed that the continued brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has resulted in a health disaster, as attested by international organizations. The lack of basic hygiene needs, the unavailability of sanitation services, the accumulation of waste in the streets and around the places where displaced persons are sheltered, and the unavailability of safe drinking water have created an environment conducive to the spread and transmission of many epidemics, including waterborne diseases such as vaccine-derived polio.

She renewed her appeal to the international community and international health organizations to quickly intervene to immediately stop the barbaric Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and to work on preparing the field conditions in order to save what can be saved, and to provide health care services immediately to our people in the Gaza Strip.

It also made an urgent appeal to all international organizations and bodies to take immediate action to rebuild safe drinking water and sanitation systems, dispose of medical and solid waste, bring in fuel to pump clean fresh water, and allow unconditional entry of medical supplies, medicines, and personal hygiene items.

She said that the government gives this matter top priority and is harnessing all its capabilities to protect our people and children, who are our future, wherever they are. She stressed that its teams in the southern and northern governorates, in cooperation with all international institutions and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, have worked over the past weeks to develop a comprehensive and integrated plan to implement an extensive vaccination campaign against polio in the Gaza Strip.