Palestinian woman gives birth to quadruplets using sperm smuggled from her imprisoned husband

A Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip today revealed that she has given birth to quadruplets she conceived through sperm smuggled from her husband, who has been held in Israeli prisons for 15 years.

Thirty-three-year-old Rasmiyya, wife of Ahmed Shamali, said  she gave birth on 3 May at Al-Makassed Hospital in occupied East Jerusalem.

Shamali said: “The birth was dangerous and early, at the end of the seventh month of pregnancy, the hospital was forced to place them in incubators for more than 37 days.”

She returned to the Gaza Strip on Sunday through the Beit Hanoun-Erez crossing, she added.

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Ahmed ‘s mother, Najah, said: “This is the third time we have tried implanting embryos fertilised through smuggled sperm since Ahmed’s arrest in 2008, thanks be to God this time it was a success.”

“The success of the  process was a moment of great joy, the impact of this on us and on Ahmed cannot be described.”

The family sent pictures of the four newborns to Ahmed so that he could see his children, who have been named Najah, Abdel Rahim, Rakan and Rayan.

Ahmed is due to be released in three years, his mum explained, adding that he had two children before being arrested in 2008 near the eastern borders of Gaza City.

He is serving 18 years on charges of belonging to the Fatah movement, according to the family.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club said seven children were born through smuggled sperm in 2022.

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