Israeli army to offer polio vaccination to Gaza soldiers

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military said on Sunday it would begin offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the contagious polio virus were found in test samples in some areas of the coastal enclave.

The army also said that with the cooperation of international groups, enough vaccines had been delivered to cover more than one million of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Soldiers will be vaccinated during routine troop rotations, although it is not mandatory, the military said.

Much of Gaza’s health infrastructure was destroyed during Israel’s nine-month military offensive, triggered by Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Public health officials and aid groups have warned that without proper health services, the population is particularly vulnerable to outbreaks.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, editing by Sharon Singleton)