Health officials in Gaza have used pauses in the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants to vaccinate children under 10 against polio. They surpassed their goals and have issued more than 160,000 inoculations. A second dose will be administered in four weeks.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes across the territory killed at least 35 people. Israel said on Tuesday it killed eight militants, including a Hamas commander who took part in the October 7 attacks.
Hamas leaders have demanded that all Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday his troops will remain, as the militants have been bringing in weapons through a buffer zone in the south called the Philadelphi Corridor.
Israeli demonstrators hit the streets to express their frustration.
One woman said, “The government announced this week that they prefer to keep the Philadelphi Corridor, which means that the deal and all negotiations will explode.”
Another woman said: “We are demanding from the government to stop anything that is in the way of having a deal. We don’t want it in any other way.”
Mediators are trying to find some common ground on a truce and the return of the hostages. However, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN that Netanyahu has “torpedoed everything.”