Palestinian woman delivers stillborn baby as Israeli soldiers delay ambulance at West Bank checkpoint

Palestinian woman delivers stillborn baby as Israeli soldiers delay ambulance at West Bank checkpoint

A Palestinian woman delivered a stillborn baby in an ambulance after the vehicle was delayed by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

The 28-year-old woman was six months pregnant and unconscious when medics collected her from her home in the village of Qaryout, south of the city of Nablus, Palestinian medic Bashar Qaryouti told AFP.

"She was suffering from very heavy bleeding and her condition was extremely critical," Qaryouti said.

The entrance to one nearby village was closed, forcing the ambulance to take dirt tracks through olive groves before reaching the Awarta checkpoint, where a gate was shut, and a long queue of vehicles had formed.

Israeli soldiers emerged from a nearby watchtower and ordered Qaryouti to turn off the ambulance's power.

Qaryouti said he explained that the vehicle's medical equipment was being used to keep a patient alive, but they forced him to switch the vehicle off.

As the ambulance remained stranded, the woman's condition worsened, and the nurse accompanying her was forced to deliver the baby inside the vehicle.

"The baby was stillborn," he said.

After waiting for more than 30 minutes, the soldiers returned the crew's identity cards and allowed the ambulance to continue.

When they reached the hospital "the mother was rushed into surgery to stop the bleeding", Qaryouti said. ...