Palestinian baby dies in West Bank after Israel blocks urgent medical care

A four-month-old Palestinian infant died after Israeli forces prevented his family for over an hour from taking him to a hospital west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Monday

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2026) A four-month-old Palestinian infant died after Israeli forces prevented his family for over an hour from taking him to a hospital west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Monday.

Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governor Laila Ghannam said in a Facebook post that doctors at the Istishari Arab Hospital announced the death of Ahmad Maarouf Zaid after Israeli forces prevented his family from transferring him for treatment despite his critical condition.

She added that Israeli soldiers blocked the family from crossing the checkpoint while firing tear gas canisters at Palestinians and vehicles, preventing the infant from reaching the hospital on time before he breathed his last.

Ms. Ghannam denounced the child’s death as "a stain on the conscience of humanity."

She said the incident was part of "a policy pursued by Israel through military checkpoints, gates and road closures to obstruct the movement of Palestinians, patients and ambulances, in violation of the rights to life, movement and freedom of mobility."

The governor said the targeting of children, whether "through occupier attacks, direct killings, or by denying them medical treatment and leaving them to die at checkpoints, exposes the true face of the occupation.”

Israel maintains a network of military checkpoints and gates across the West Bank that restrict Palestinians' movement between cities and towns, including access for patients and ambulances to medical facilities.

In April 2026, the UN documented 925 movement obstacles across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with checkpoints and road gates accounting for nearly 60% of them.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said that ongoing restrictions and closures of border crossings continue to hamper delivery of critical supplies into the Gaza Strip, amid mounting concern for children there and in the West Bank.

UN teams in Gaza continued to collect food and fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing over the weekend, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

He explained, however, that what humanitarians and the private sector can bring in is limited because all other crossings remain closed for cargo while restrictions on specific types of supplies remain in place.

“Data from the UN 2720 Mechanism shows a decline in the overall volume of supplies that we and our partners have been able to bring in last month, less than 42,000 pallets, down from about 46,600 in May,” he said.

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The Mechanism, authorised under Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023), aims to accelerate aid flows into the enclave. Humanitarian organizations register planned aid consignments on a portal and database where they are tracked.

The initiative supports the movement of the consignments, including through the Jordan Corridor route and by sea via the Ashdod port in Israel.

Dujarric said that last week, only 42 per cent of the supplies from Egypt and 65 per cent of those from Ashdod port could be offloaded at the Kerem Shalom crossing, even though they were “already approved in principle”.

The UN continues to voice concern for children across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), it was pointed out.

Child rights agency UNICEF underscored the need for youngsters in Gaza to receive proper nutrition, healthcare and protection, after more than 1,000 days of war.

Children “have been killed, maimed, displaced, and deprived of the essentials that they need to survive, grow, and recover,” Spokesperson Louise Wateridge told UN News on Monday.

She said reports indicate that overall, more than 60,000 children have been killed or injured, while “a child has been killed on average every single day for more than eight months” despite the October ceasefire.

“Children in Gaza have taken their first steps through rubble, spoken their first words against the deafening sounds of bombs and strikes, and they’ve known nothing but war, displacement, and loss. Others didn't even survive long enough to speak their first words,” she said.

“Childhood should not begin in survival mode. No child’s earliest years should be defined by the sounds of bombs and strikes, the loss of home, or the absence of enough food, water, and care.”

Meanwhile, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said that Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old in the West Bank on Sunday.

The incident occurred at the Qalandiya camp, near Jerusalem. Two other children were shot in the lower limbs.

“This is another reminder that Palestinians in the West Bank must be protected, as required by law, and that perpetrators of violations must be held accountable,” OCHA said.