Ambulances as targets

The Israeli army has repeatedly blocked civilian access to medical facilities through a number of means including blockades, firing on ambulances and medical personnel, and targeting hospitals. The following comes from B’Tselem web site, their update for the 19th of April, 2002.

IDF blocks ambulance, photo by Mahfouz Abu Turk for
PalestineChronicle.com

Dunia Shtaya, a three-day-old baby, died last night at Al-Watani hospital in Nablus. Shtaya was born to her parents following two years of fertility treatments. On Monday, April 15, 2002, Dunia’s mother, 22-year-old Sirin Shtaya from the village of Salem in Nablus District began having labor pains. Her husband, Nasser Shtaya, called the Red Crescent in Nablus for an ambulance. However, due to IDF imposed restrictions on movement in the Occupied Territories, the ambulance could not make it to the village, which is only 5 kilometers away from Nablus. Nasser Shtaya called Dr. ‘Adb al-Wahab Mahrouz, a local physician, who delivered Dunia at the couple’s home. Dunia did not receive the necessary immunizations after her birth, since these were unavailable. At 8:00 PM last night, Dr. Mahrouz examined Dunia. Having diagnosed her as suffering an oxygen deficiency and an irregular heart beat, he determined that she should be admitted to hospital immediately. Almost three hours after the family sent for an ambulance, it arrived from Nablus and took Dunia and her parents to the hospital. However, on route to the hospital the ambulance was detained again. IDF soldiers besieging the village of Salem forced the passengers to get out of the ambulance and delayed them for some 15 minutes. The ambulance was detained again by IDF soldiers 1.5 kilometers from the hospital. They detained the ambulance for a further 30 minutes. Only at around 11:30 PM, did the ambulance make it to the hospital. A physician at the hospital pronounced the baby dead on arrival.

Source: B’Tselm update 19 April 2002