Palestinian child denied access to hospital dies at Israeli checkpoint

Palestinian sources reported on Thursday that a Palestinian child has died at an Israeli occupation checkpoint that is known as “the Container” and which separates the central West Bank from the south. The sources said that the Israeli soldiers stationed at the checkpoint had stopped Palestinian vehicles for three straight hours, which led to the death of Nour Afaneh, a 14-year-old girl with special needs from the town of Abu Dis in East Jerusalem.

The sources explained that the car was carrying Afaneh to Beit Jala Hospital to receive treatment in Bethlehem, however it was not allowed to pass through the checkpoint due to the backlog of traffic, leading to her death. Eyewitnesses noted that the traffic was caused when the Israeli soldiers began a thorough search of the Palestinian vehicles, inspecting their identities cards and delaying them without any apparent reason.