Kelly Campa, Andie Parry, Ria Reddy, Kathryn Tyson, Siddhant Kishore, Katherine Wells, Alexandra Braverman, Annika Ganzeveld, and Brian Carter

Information Cutoff: 2:00pm ET

US and international health officials confirmed on August 29 that Israel has agreed to implement a temporary humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip to vaccinate children against polio. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office emphasized that the pause is not related to the longer-term ceasefire proposal currently under discussion in Doha. The temporary humanitarian pause related to polio received support from the Israeli War Cabinet. The Gaza Health Ministry announced on August 16 that several Palestinian children have presented symptoms consistent with polio and that lab tests confirmed that one child had polio. The World Health Organization representative for the Gaza Strip said that Israel agreed to suspend offensive operations for three days in designated areas of the central Gaza Strip beginning on September 1 when a large-scale vaccination campaign will begin. The IDF will pause operations from 0600 to 1500 local time in the designated areas. Israel will also conduct three day pauses in designated areas of the southern and northern Gaza Strip on later, unspecified dates. Unspecified Egyptian officials told Arab media that the pause would not include areas of the Gaza Strip where Israeli forces are actively operating. Hamas initially welcomed the temporary pause in fighting but later criticized the Israeli proposal for not encompassing the entire Gaza Strip. A Hamas political bureau official confirmed that Hamas would cooperate with international organizations for the successful implementation of the campaign, however. A United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) official said on August 26 that over 3,000 people in health teams would help deliver polio vaccines to shelters, clinics, and schools, but that a humanitarian pause was needed for locals to safely meet aid workers.

Key Takeaways:

• Polio Vaccinations in the Gaza Strip: US and international health officials confirmed on August 29 that Israel has agreed to implement a temporary humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip to vaccinate children against polio.

• Gaza Strip: Israeli military sources said that IDF operations in Rafah caused the “collapse” of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade. Hamas’ recent attack rate in Rafah indicates that the Rafah Brigade may be severely degraded. Recent Hamas attacks have also appeared to lack clear tactical or operational objectives, unlike Hamas actions in May, June, and July.

• Nuclear Negotiations: Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, according to an unreleased International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by the Associated Press.

• Israel-Hamas ceasefire-hostage negotiations: Unspecified sources familiar with the ongoing ceasefire-hostage negotiations told Israeli media on August 28 that Israeli mediators have made “progress” during negotiations in Doha. 

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ISW–CTP has launched an interactive map of Israeli ground operations to accompany our daily campaign assessments of the Israel–Hamas war. This product complements the daily static maps that ISW-CTP produces with high-fidelity and, where possible, street-level assessments of the war in Israel.

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