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Checkpoint delay kills fetus
Israeli forces delayed an ambulance carrying a pregnant Palestinian woman from the village of Qaryout south of Nablus to Rafidia Hospital after the vehicle reached the Awarta military checkpoint, where a gate was shut and a queue of vehicles had formed.
Medic Bashar Qaryouti said Israeli soldiers ordered him to switch off the ambulance despite explaining that its medical equipment was being used to keep the woman alive, and the nurse was forced to deliver a stillborn baby inside the vehicle.
The New Arab reported that by the time the ambulance reached hospital, the woman had lost her six-month-old foetus, although doctors were able to save her life.
Arab News said Israeli military closures since Friday around Nablus have disrupted access to hospitals and emergency care, leaving ambulances unable to reach patients and blocked urgent medical care.
Arab News also quoted PHRI researcher Imran Anati saying, “The closures are still continuing today,” as some checkpoints reopen from time to time but random closures continue.
Competing accounts and quotes
Le Monde reported that Palestinian health authorities said the woman lost her unborn child in an ambulance on Monday, July 27 after caregivers accused Israeli soldiers of delaying the vehicle at a checkpoint, while the Israeli army denied this.
Le Monde quoted Bashar Qaryouti saying, “They forced me, with their weapons, to switch off the vehicle,” and said he also claimed soldiers confiscated the caregivers' identity cards.
Le Monde added that when AFP contacted, the Israeli army said that “the claim that soldiers had delayed an ambulance at the Awarta checkpoint was false,” and said it had received no report of the incident from the Palestinians.
The National reported that paramedic Bashar Al Qaryouti told Wafa the ambulance was only allowed to pass an hour later, but “by then it was too late,” and that Israeli forces forced the ambulance driver to turn off the vehicle and subsequently, the medical equipment inside.
The National also quoted Imran Anati warning, “Sealing off entire communities while preventing ambulances from reaching patients or evacuating the wounded places civilians' lives at immediate risk,” as PHRI highlighted the case of two women forced to give birth on the way to the hospital.
Broader closures and raids
Arab News said the closures were imposed after a fatal incident near Nablus on Friday, July 24, and that since then patients have struggled to reach hospitals while emergency teams have been unable to respond effectively, with frontline workers describing the impact as unprecedented.
“Toggle Play Pregnant Palestinian woman loses baby after Israeli checkpoint stop Israeli forces stopped an ambulance carrying a pregnant Palestinian in labour”
Arab News reported that an unborn Palestinian baby died after Israeli soldiers delayed an ambulance at the Awarta checkpoint, and it said roadblocks had prevented 12 dialysis patients from reaching treatment, according to Palestinian media.
Arab News said the Red Crescent opened 72 first aid points across the northern and southern West Bank to help ambulances reach patients, with Ameed Ahmed telling Palestinian Radio Alam that the organization had taken that step.
The National reported that Israeli forces began a large-scale raid in a village near Nablus on Saturday and detained at least 80 Palestinians, and it said that on Friday Israel launched a “major counter-terrorism operation” that included a raid on a hospital in Nablus.
Arab News also quoted Imran Anati warning that sealing off entire communities and preventing ambulances from reaching patients or transporting the wounded “puts lives at immediate risk,” while it said PHRI warned that Israeli forces entered Nablus Specialized Hospital on Friday while searching for a body, disrupting medical operations.
