Esra Tekin
19 July 2026•Update: 19 July 2026
An official announced Saturday that a 30-year-old Palestinian woman who suffered a heart attack died after the Israeli army held up the ambulance carrying her for more than 30 minutes at a military barrier at the entrance to the town.
Mayor Mutez Tawafsha from the Sinjil Municipality, a town near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said in a video statement that an ambulance attempting to transport Sujoud Fuqaha, a mother of two, to the hospital was forced to wait for more than 30 minutes at the military gate before being granted permission to pass.
Emphasizing that time is critical in medical emergencies, Tawafsha said, “The woman needed to reach the hospital as quickly as possible in order to receive the necessary treatment. How many more innocent lives will these iron gates and military barriers continue to claim in the town of Sinjil?”
Footage showed Tawafsha standing in front of the iron gate, the ambulance waiting for the gate to be opened and permission to pass before transporting Fuqaha. It also showed medical workers making urgent verbal appeals for the gate to be opened in an effort to save her life.
Sinjil is frequently targeted by the Israeli army and occupiers amid Israel’s military control over the town’s entrances and severe restrictions imposed on the movement of Palestinians.
Since October 2023, there has been a sharp increase in attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers who have seized Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
According to official Palestinian figures, 1,181 Palestinians have been killed, 13,000 have been injured and nearly 24,000 detained during the period.
A report published July 6 by the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli occupiers carried out 3,488 attacks against Palestinian communities during the first half of the year, including assaults, the burning of homes, shootings, land seizures, and the establishment of unauthorized settlement outposts.
Seventeen were killed in the attacks.
