United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has described the pauses in fighting in central Gaza as health workers deliver polio vaccines as a “rare ray of hope and humanity in the cascade of horror.”

“If the parties can act to protect children from a deadly virus … surely they can and must act to protect children and all innocents from the horrors of war,” his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric said.

However, the pauses in the fighting are limited to areas where a polio vaccination campaign is running and taking place in the central areas.

There are still active warzones in other parts of the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues with its air strikes.

So far, 26 people have reportedly been killed in the past 24 hours.

That’s only the number that’s being collected and identified by health facilities and officials in the northern and southern parts of the Strip.

This includes the eastern part of the city of Khan Younis, where heavy artillery since the early hours of this morning has been reported, as well as the evacuation centres in al-Mawasi area in the western part of Khan Younis.

Israeli forces reportedly attacked near a hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shortly after the polio vaccination campaign ended on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

There is fear and concern right that as soon as the vaccination schedule ends for the day, the Israeli military resumes right away.

Chance of Gaza Ceasefire Deal “Almost Non-Existent”

Professor of Israel studies and political science at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Dov Waxman said that the chances of a ceasefire deal appear to be “almost non-existent.”

“It really depends upon three men: President Biden, of course, but first and foremost Netanyahu and [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar. I don’t think Sinwar or Netanyahu really feel under a great amount of pressure to reach an agreement despite the demands of their own domestic publics.

“And I don’t think there is, unfortunately, any agreement that can be put forward that is likely to be satisfactory to both men.”
Dov Waxman

“I think there is really very, very slim prospects of an agreement,” he added.

Waxman stated that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s plea to the public for forgiveness after the bodies of six Israeli captives were discovered in Gaza over the weekend will not “make any difference.”

“I think Netanyahu’s press conference is only going to make them [the protesters] even more determined to apply more pressure on the prime minister to make a deal. But, as it seems, by this press conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu is not willing to make a deal – at least not on the terms that we know of.”
Dov Waxman

Additionally, Waxman noted that Biden’s most recent comment critical of Netanyahu for not agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas showed that there were “mixed messages” coming out of the White House on the reasons a deal had not been reached.

“President Biden’s comment is somewhat contradicted by his own Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who in a recent visit publicly said that Netanyahu had accepted the deal and that all the onus was on Hamas,” Waxman said.

“So I think there is some mixed messages coming out of the Biden administration. I think the President does want to clearly increase the pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept a deal but that kind of statement is unlikely to work to really convince Netanyahu to change his position.”
Dov Waxman

“There is the real potential for that already volatile situation to escalate into a wider war. So much depends on the ability to reach this agreement but I think it is very unlikely,” he added.