Palestinian woman loses unborn baby after ambulance blocked by Israeli forces

A Palestinian woman lost her unborn baby after Israeli forces blocked her in the West Bank town of Qariyut, adjacent to Nablus. The ambulance was held up for a long time at the Wafata military checkpoint on its way to the hospital in a serious condition, which led to this tragic outcome.

Bashar al-Qariyut, an ambulance officer in the town of Qariyut, said that the six-month pregnant woman was in critical condition due to heavy bleeding. Despite this, the soldiers refused to open the checkpoint gate and directly obstructed the medical staff from carrying out their normal activities. Even in her dying state, the woman was subjected to a search.

During the incident, the soldiers forcibly turned off the ambulance's engine. As the engine stopped, the emergency life support system and necessary medical equipment inside the vehicle became ineffective in an instant. In addition, the situation became more complicated when a member of the medical team was taken into military custody.

The medical staff concerned confirmed that this serious disruption of the emergency medical system led to the premature death of the unborn child. The incident of Palestinian patients being prevented from receiving medical services at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank has raised serious concerns in the international community.

Source: Middle East Eye