The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday that it plans to vaccinate more than 40,000 children in Gaza against a range of preventable diseases, taking advantage of the temporary calm brought by the ongoing ceasefire.

In the first phase of the campaign, launched on November 9, WHO and its partners successfully vaccinated over 10,000 children under the age of three. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed that this initial stage has been extended until Saturday, aiming to shield children from illnesses including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, polio, rotavirus, and pneumonia.

The vaccination effort is being carried out in collaboration with UNICEF, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and Gaza’s health ministry. Phases two and three are scheduled for December and January.

Tedros expressed cautious optimism, noting that the ceasefire has allowed health agencies to intensify services and begin rebuilding Gaza’s severely damaged healthcare system.

The truce, brokered on October 10 through a plan endorsed by the UN Security Council and facilitated by US President Donald Trump, has been marred by sporadic violence. It follows more than two years of devastating conflict triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,221 people, mostly civilians.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 69,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The ministry, whose figures are recognized by the UN, reports that over half of the casualties are women and children, though it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.