IDF denies World Health Organization, Hamas claims of Israeli strike on vaccination center in Gaza City

The IDF denies claims made by the World Health Organization and Hamas that it carried out a strike against a vaccination center in Gaza City earlier today, wounding six.

“We have received an extremely concerning report that the Sheikh Radwan primary health care center in northern Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to the life-saving polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says in a post on X.

“Six people, including four children, were injured,” he adds.

The WHO chief does not specify who carried out the strike but a source in the Hamas-run civil defense agency tells AFP that it was “an Israeli quadcopter that fired two missiles which hit the wall of Sheikh Radwan clinic.”

In response to a query on the matter, the IDF says that it is aware of claims that civilians were hurt at the vaccination center, but contrary to the reports, it says that no Israeli strike was carried out in the area at that time.

“Today, a vaccination operation began, in coordination with the IDF via COGAT, and in cooperation with the international community, within which the population is allowed to safely reach the medical centers where the vaccinations will be given to the population,” the military says.

“We are aware of a claim about the harm to Palestinian civilians at the Sheikh Radwan vaccination center in the northern Gaza Strip. Contrary to what was claimed, a preliminary investigation reveals that there was no strike by IDF forces in the area at the time in question,” the IDF says.

The IDF adds that it “emphasizes that the Hamas terror organization deliberately fires from civilian areas, systematically violates international law, and cynically exploits the civilian population as a shield for terror acts against the State of Israel.”

Agencies contributed to this report.