Palestinian medics say West Bank checkpoint delay preceded stillbirth in ambulance

A 28-year-old Palestinian woman delivered a stillborn baby in an ambulance on Monday after Israeli soldiers allegedly delayed the vehicle at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health workers said.

Medic Bashar Qaryouti said the woman was six months pregnant, unconscious and bleeding heavily when an ambulance collected her from her home in Qaryout, south of Nablus.

He said the crew was taking her to Rafidia hospital in Nablus but had to search for another route because the entrance to a nearby village was closed.

The ambulance travelled along dirt tracks through olive groves before reaching the Awarta checkpoint, where a gate was shut and vehicles were waiting in a long queue, Qaryouti said.

He said he drove to the front of the queue and activated the siren. Soldiers emerged about 10 minutes later, ordered him to turn it off and confiscated the crew’s identity cards, according to his account.

Medical equipment inside the ambulance was being used to keep the woman alive, Qaryouti said.

As the vehicle remained delayed, the woman’s condition deteriorated and a nurse delivered the baby inside the ambulance.

“The baby was stillborn,” Qaryouti said.

He said the ambulance was allowed to continue after more than 30 minutes.

Rafidia hospital director Fouad Nafaa said the woman had been prevented by the Israeli army from reaching the hospital. Her bleeding was later brought under control and she was in stable condition, he said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Israel has launched what it describes as a “counterterrorism operation” across the West Bank, resulting in several road closures.

The operation followed a deadly clash on Friday between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the village of Tell that killed two Israelis and four Palestinians.