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Last update - 06:51 15/02/2008
Palestinians: Ailing woman dies after IDF denies her ambulance
By Reuters
Tags: Israel Defense Forces 

A Palestinian woman who was refused access to an ambulance at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint died in her village in the West Bank on Thursday, a Palestinian doctor and relatives said.

Local witnesses said the husband of Fawziya Qabb pleaded with soldiers at the Jarushiya checkpoint near the town of Tul Karm to let his wife get to an ambulance waiting to take her to a Palestinian hospital but they ignored him.

An IDF source said the soldiers at the checkpoint were unaware of the woman's circumstances because her family did not inform the local military coordination office for humanitarian cases of the ambulance's arrival.
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"If we had been made aware of the situation a path could have been cleared for the ambulance through heavy traffic in the area which was caused by a high alert around Tul Karm," the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

The source said that troops had sealed off the area in the northern West Bank as they feared a possible attack by militants.

Local witnesses and Palestinian security sources said the Israeli heightened state of alert had forced thousands of residents to wait at checkpoints in the pouring rain.

Qabb's relatives from the village of Deir al-Ghosoon close to Tul Karm said they called the ambulance but soldiers did not allow it through the checkpoint to pick up the 67-year-old.

"I asked the officer to let us cross but he refused," husband Mahmoud Yousef Qabb said.

Mahmoud said that after failing to persuade the soldiers for 20 minutes, he took his ailing wife back to the village doctor who failed in his efforts to save her life.

"She had suffered a stroke and needed urgent hospital attention. She might have lived if she had reached hospital," village doctor Abdel-Fattah al-Darak said.

Qabb said his wife, a heart patient, was in good condition after being discharged from hospital in Tul Karm earlier on Thursday.

Human rights groups say they have recorded several cases of Palestinian patients who have died because of delays at IDF checkpoints since the start of the Palestinian uprising in 2000.

Israel says it allows humanitarian cases through the checkpoints.

Palestinians and rights groups say the checkpoints are collective punishment. Israel says they are needed to protect its citizens against Palestinian suicide bombers.

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      1.   unfortunate victim of Palestinian terror 04:14  |  judith 15/02/08
      2.   Emergency Doctor Medical Services Failures 04:17  |  Jaime 15/02/08
      3.   Maybe next time... 04:28  |  Jeffrey 15/02/08
      4.   Denying humanitarian access. 04:29  |  sandra chitayat. 15/02/08
      5.   Too many crimes & injustices - time for Israel to be dismantled! 04:35  |  Justice 15/02/08
      6.   this is why Israel must end 04:38  |  Steve Katz 15/02/08
      7.   They don`t respect life or kindness 04:55  |  Dr. Jack 15/02/08
      8.   God`s Jewish Warriors; hard at work.... 05:02  |  POP 15/02/08
      9.   Disgusting. 05:13  |  Paulo 15/02/08
      10.   Human rights groups and other do gooders 05:22  |  ze`ev 15/02/08
      11.   death from ambulance holdup 05:22  |  norman A. Blumberg 15/02/08
      12.   Beyond redemption. 05:34  |  Maureen Ann 15/02/08
      13.   several cases since 2000 -- wow 05:45  |  vik 15/02/08
      14.   this is war hr and pals are naive so long as pals honor bombers 05:47  |  ralph 15/02/08
      15.   Better process needed 05:52  |  William 15/02/08
      16.   ambulance 05:52  |  Rita 15/02/08
      17.   The Jews Killed Jesus 06:12  |  Roy 15/02/08
      18.   #3: Maybe next time... 06:22  |  Bear 15/02/08
      19.   to #11...and if it was true? 06:29  |  Bear 15/02/08
      20.   Why not back to the hospital that released her thursday? 06:40  |  MaryRose 15/02/08
      21.   About Bear 06:42  |  Salty 15/02/08
      22.   The first 3 talkback posts.... 06:44  |  Johnboy 15/02/08
      23.   Ailing woman 06:45  |  Duke 15/02/08
      24.   Sickening 06:48  |  Johnny 15/02/08
      25.   TO VIK #13 06:49  |  J. Schaefer 15/02/08
      26.   Infuriating. Condolencies. But if the stroke killed her in 20`... 06:59  |  Army MD 15/02/08
      27.   Solution: use $ millions donated to PA to build better hospitals 07:02  |  Army MD 15/02/08
      28.   17 roy 07:05  |  sammy 15/02/08
      29.   IDF - Hatred Personified 07:05  |  Jackie Y. 15/02/08
      30.   TO JUDITH #1 07:07  |  Steve Beikirch 15/02/08
      31.   Johnboy 07:10  |  judith 15/02/08
      32.   Husband who cried wolf... 07:15  |  Rightster 15/02/08
      33.   Palestinians Use Ambulances for Terror 07:17  |  Tod Zuckerman 15/02/08
      34.   re #26, #27 `Infuriating` 07:17  |  Colin Wright 15/02/08
      35.   ROY THE RED-NECKED HICK 07:19  |  judith 15/02/08
      36.   To #3 07:39  |  Dave 15/02/08
      37.   For all those crying "Shame on Israel!" 07:51  |  Michael 15/02/08
      38.   hey Johnny 07:52  |  vik 15/02/08
      39.   Judith # 1 07:56  |  melchizedek 15/02/08
      40.   Judith #29 07:58  |  melchizedek 15/02/08
      41.   to army md - this checkpoint is WITHIN the WB 08:08  |  LW 15/02/08
      42.   denied ambulance 08:15  |  rachel simson 15/02/08
      43.   #29 Pure paranoia, Judith 08:20  |  Johnboy 15/02/08
      44.   Judith 08:32  |  Tareq 15/02/08
      45.   unfortunate victim of israeli cruelty 08:38  |  avi 15/02/08
      46.   It is HER FAULT 08:57  |  Steve the Pals. 15/02/08
      47.   Steve Beikirch #28 Re Judith #1 09:11  |  TonyL 15/02/08
      48.   #17 Jews killed Lord Jesus 09:20  |  Warren 15/02/08
      49.   The need to balance compassion with security 09:31  |  Jacob Blues 15/02/08
      50.   Does a nation like this deserve to survive? I think not 09:37  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
      51.   Israel is a failed state 09:37  |  Tim 15/02/08
      52.   OK Steve, you`re a racist 09:39  |  Jacob Blues 15/02/08
      53.   israel is traumatised 09:39  |  per 15/02/08
      54.   For Roy on the killing of Jesus # 17 10:11  |  Clickfool 15/02/08
      55.   Just another example of zionist without moral... 10:12  |  Dutch Dirk 15/02/08
      56.   The murder of an old lady 10:17  |  Mike 15/02/08
      57.   Israel (with the "help" of Arab extremists) is creating..... 10:24  |  Swiss (Dino) 15/02/08
      58.   This was a war crime 10:39  |  Leser 15/02/08
      59.   to #1 Judith,no this lady was a victim of the jewish occupation 10:44  |  Zaki 15/02/08
      60.   TO RACHEL SIMSON YOU ARE THE CAUSE...... 10:46  |  MICHELE 15/02/08
      61.   two sides to every story -haaretz only choses 1 11:02  |  don 15/02/08
      62.   #rachel simson - A radical leftist in disguise? 11:04  |  Leser 15/02/08
      63.   To 46,50 60 and that redneck idiot 11:06  |  Dave 15/02/08
      64.   #1 Judith, how deep does that go? 11:06  |  Edith 15/02/08
      65.   #17 That fairy tale... 11:11  |  Edith 15/02/08
      66.   #49 Jacob Blues - There is not such thing as a humane Occupation 11:23  |  Leser 15/02/08
      67.   facts 11:29  |  Rab Burns 15/02/08
      68.   warren 11:36  |  Rab Burns 15/02/08
      69.   IDF : The most humane army ? 11:38  |  Matteo 15/02/08
      70.   Can`t tell the difference, Jaime? 11:42  |  Murray 15/02/08
      71.   Roy 11:42  |  Rab Burns 15/02/08
      72.   Oh well, another one down... 11:46  |  The Judge 15/02/08
      73.