Soldier who delayed a pregnant woman, causing her to lose her baby, only sentenced to 14 days

Friday September 12, 2008 02:41 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli sources reported on Thursday that an Israeli soldier was to sentenced to 14 days imprisonment for delaying a pregnant Palestinian woman at a military roadblock near Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, causing her to lose her infant.

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The sources added that the soldier was also relieved from his post as an Israeli Army company commander.

The Israeli army said that as the woman and her husband were rushing to a local hospital in Nablus, they were stopped at a military roadblock and were barred from crossing although the woman was in labor.  

 The woman, Nahil, from Kafr Kharsa village south of Nablus arrived with her husband at an Israeli roadblock while on their way to the hospital but the soldiers stopped them and claimed that they “did not have the proper papers to cross the roadblock”.

 The couple remained stalled at the roadblock and approximately 50 minutes, and when a Palestinian ambulance arrived at the scene, the medics were forced to declare the baby dead.

The husband said that after he and his wife found out that she needs to get a hospital as quickly as possible, they decided not to wait for an ambulance and used a relative’s car to drive to the hospital.

The car is licensed by the so-called Civil Administration Office to travel between the village and the Jordan Valley, but the army ignored the license and decided to force the couple to wait.

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