Israeli forces have toughened restrictions across the West Bank as their onslaught on the Jenin refugee camp entered its second day on Wednesday [Getty]
A 45-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from heart attack symptoms died at an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, where her ambulance was withheld, the Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday.
Eman Jaraday, a mother of six – including young children, was in critical condition and in need of immediate medical attention, her family told The New Arab‘s Arabic language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, adding that the Israeli military had deliberately obstructed her transfer at the Beit Einun checkpoint, northeastern Hebron late on Tuesday.
Jaradat was initially treated at a nearby health centre, where doctors urgently recommended her transfer to the nearest hospital in Hebron city, which required crossing Israeli military checkpoints.
“Israeli occupation forces denied her passage, despite the family and the doctor’s attempts to explain that it was a medical emergency,” her relative, Abdul Salam Da’san, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, noting that soldiers had threatened them with arms and refused to let them cross.
The ambulance waited for an hour before soldiers eventually allowed it through, Da’san said, adding that by the time Jaradat reached the hospital, she had already died.
Da’sa said she was otherwise a healthy woman with no prior medical conditions and could have been treated if her transfer had not been delayed.
Tougher restrictions
Israeli forces have toughened restrictions across the West Bank as their onslaught on the Jenin refugee camp entered its second day on Wednesday, with hundreds of vehicles lining up in long queues at checkpoints in the occupied territory.
Israeli forces have set up an additional 14 gates and military checkpoints in the past week, taking the number of checkpoints in the West Bank up to 898, according to Anadolu.
At least ten Palestinians were killed and 40 others wounded in the Israeli military operation in Jenin on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
An Israeli military statement said that the operation in Jenin, dubbed “Iron Wall”, was expected to last several days.
Tensions have escalated across the West Bank amid Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of at least 47,000 people – mostly women and children – and left more than 110,700 wounded since 7 October 2023.
Israeli forces have killed at least 870 Palestinians and wounded over 6,700 in the occupied West Bank during the same period.
On Sunday, a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement came into effect in Gaza, temporarily halting Israel’s military onslaught on the besieged enclave.
In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories was illegal and called for the removal of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
