A critically ill pregnant woman lost her unborn child after Israeli forces stopped the ambulance taking her to hospital in the Palestinian city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, state news agency Wafa reported.
Israeli forces stopped the ambulance on Monday, detained the crew and “subjected the woman to a search despite being in a critical condition and bleeding in her sixth month of pregnancy”, paramedic Bashar Al Qaryouti told Wafa.
Mr Al Qaryouti, who is from the woman's town of Qaryout, said the incident happened at the Awarta checkpoint, south of Nablus.
Israeli forces forced the ambulance driver to turn off the vehicle and subsequently, the medical equipment inside. The ambulance was only allowed to pass an hour later, but by then it was too late, Mr Al Qaryouti said.
Israel’s military did not respond to a request for comment.
Two women were also forced to give birth on the way to the hospital because of the closure of all checkpoints around Nablus, Wafa said.
Rights group Physicians for Human Rights – Israel highlighted the case of the two women in a statement on Sunday. It accused Israel of causing “a sharp deterioration in access to health care as the ongoing military closure of the Nablus area continues to disrupt emergency medical services”.
The rights group said another woman had to give birth in a village clinic “after medical teams were unable to evacuate her for hospital care” and another ambulance had to turn back after it was denied passage near an Israeli settlement. It had also received reports of dialysis patients being stranded at checkpoints.
“Sealing off entire communities while preventing ambulances from reaching patients or evacuating the wounded places civilians' lives at immediate risk,” said Imran Anati, a researcher and project co-ordinator with PHRI.
“The Israeli authorities must immediately ensure safe and unimpeded access for ambulances and medical personnel, and fully uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
Israeli forces began a large-scale raid in a village near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Saturday and detained at least 80 Palestinians. A day earlier, two Israelis and four Palestinians were killed in a settler attack.
On Friday afternoon, Israel had said it would launch a “major counter-terrorism operation”. That included a raid on a hospital in Nablus, during which two Palestinians were detained.
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said there were “large-scale settler-militias pogroms and military attacks under way in multiple Palestinian villages and cities” on Friday.
The Israeli parliament's finance committee is due to convene during recess to vote on more than $16 million in funding for “violent settlement farms and outposts”, according to anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now.
“In a pre-election budget grab, the government is looting public funds to deepen Israeli control and occupation in the territories,” the organisation said in a report.
“It is now clear to everyone that the violence, attacks against Palestinians, and the dispossession and forced displacement of Palestinians are part of an organised and well-funded government policy.”
