The head of the World Health Organization has said that polio has been detected in Gaza and warned that children in the war-ravaged enclave would soon be infected by the disease if preventative measures were not quickly taken.
A day after the WHO said there were "very likely" polio cases among Gaza's population, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media to flag concern about the human cost of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
"The detection of polio in Gaza is another reminder of the dire conditions the population is facing," Dr Tedros said. "The persistence of the conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable threats such as polio."
Dr Tedros linked his post to an article he had written in French newspaper Le Monde, published late yesterday, in which he said poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples in Gaza.
In the article, the WHO chief wrote that although no cases of polio had yet been recorded, "unless immediate action is taken, it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches the thousands of unprotected children" there.
Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the faecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis and death in young children.
Polio cases have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts to eradicate it.
The WHO is sending more than a million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered in the coming weeks to prevent children from becoming infected with the disease, Dr Tedros said.
Palestinians detained by Israel subjected to 'torture' - UN report
Earlier the United Nations said that Palestinians detained by Israel during the Gaza war have largely been held in secret and in some cases subjected to treatment that may amount to torture.
Since 7 October, thousands of Palestinians - including medics, patients, residents and captured fighters - have been taken from Gaza to Israel, "usually shackled and blindfolded", while thousands more have been detained in the West Bank and Israel, the OHCHR UN human rights office said in a report.
"They have generally been held in secret, without being given a reason for their detention, access to a lawyer or effective judicial review," OHCHR said.
At least 53 detainees from Gaza and the West Bank have died in Israeli detention since the Gaza war began on 7 October, the report found.
"The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law," said UN human rights chief Volker Turk.
He called on all parties to the conflict to implement a ceasefire, ensure full respect for international law and ensure accountability for violations and abuses.
The report, 'Detention in the context of the escalation of hostilities in Gaza', covers the period from 7 October to 30 June.
It said that there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that since 7 October, Israel and Palestinian armed groups had "committed gross violations and abuses... of the rights to life, liberty and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence, all of which may also amount to war crimes".
The 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel that started the war resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,400 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, which does not provide details on civilian and militant deaths.
