Geneva, Oct 17 (IANS): The World Health Organization (WHO) urged Israel to grant access to Gaza, where escalating violence has blocked humanitarian missions from delivering critical food and medical supplies.

Amid the chaos, WHO and its partners launched the second round of a polio vaccination campaign on Monday, aiming to immunise over half a million children, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The total number of children who received a second dose of polio vaccine in Gaza after two days of vaccination is 156,943," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X on Wednesday.

However, ongoing violence threatens the campaign's goal of vaccinating at least 90 per cent of the children, a critical target to halt the virus's spread. In addition to polio vaccines, children are receiving vitamin A supplements to strengthen their immunity.

WHO highlighted the severity of the situation, reporting that out of 54 scheduled United Nations missions to Gaza in October, only one has been completed, with the rest either cancelled or obstructed due to the conflict.