Infant dies after West Bank gate blocks ambulance transfer, family says
Ahmad Zaid, 3 months old, died during an attempted transfer to a Ramallah hospital after Israeli soldiers kept a locked gate closed, relatives told Al Jazeera.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
A three-month-old Palestinian boy died after Israeli forces blocked his family from reaching an ambulance through a locked military gate in the occupied West Bank, relatives told Al Jazeera. The case has drawn attention to the medical risks created by movement restrictions around Palestinian communities.
Al Jazeera, reporting from Deir Ammar refugee camp northwest of Ramallah, identified the child as Ahmad Zaid. His mother, Yasmine Zaid, found him unresponsive on Sunday and took him to a nearby medical centre, where staff tried to revive him and called an ambulance to take him to a hospital in Ramallah, the broadcaster reported.
The ambulance could not reach the family because a locked Israeli gate stood on the road between Deir Ammar and Ramallah, according to Al Jazeera. The family and medical staff planned to bring Ahmad to the gate, carry him across on foot with an oxygen mask and transfer him to the ambulance waiting on the other side.
Relatives told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers at the gate refused to open it and also prevented the family from crossing on foot. Fatima al-Abd Khalil, Ahmad’s aunt by marriage, said soldiers shouted at the family to move back and threatened to shoot.
Khalil said Ahmad’s father, Maarouf Zaid, carried the baby toward the soldiers while pleading for passage. She told Al Jazeera that he said his son was dying and asked the soldiers to shoot him if they wished but allow the child through.
According to the family’s account to Al Jazeera, soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades, forcing relatives to return to their car. They then drove on longer dirt roads to reach the ambulance.
Al Jazeera reported that Ahmad reached the ambulance at 3:20pm and was pronounced dead while being taken to the hospital. Earlier that day, Maarouf had collected Ahmad’s birth certificate in Ramallah; later, he went back to collect his son’s death certificate, according to the report.
Restrictions around Deir Ammar
Residents told Al Jazeera that the Deir Ammar gate had been shut indefinitely after Israel’s war with Iran began in late February. They said the closure has restricted access to Ramallah’s services for about 18,000 people in three villages.
Yasmine Zaid told Al Jazeera that the gate should at least be opened for sick people and those at risk of death. Khalil said the case reflected a daily reality for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, where patients regularly need hospital care while access routes are blocked.
The World Health Organization documented 233 incidents affecting health facilities, workers and ambulances in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to Al Jazeera. Most involved obstruction or denial of access rather than direct attacks, the report said.
The UN has recorded at least 925 Israeli movement obstacles across the West Bank affecting 3.4 million Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. Those include permanent checkpoints, temporary barriers, gates at Palestinian community entrances, earth mounds and roadblocks.
Salah al-Khawaja, director of the Central West Bank Department at the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told Al Jazeera that a soldier can close a village entrance at any time, cutting communities off from nearby areas. He said the gates form part of a broader system tied to Israeli settlement expansion and the separation of Palestinian towns and villages.
Funeral limits
Ahmad’s family told Al Jazeera that Israeli military authorities later called with instructions for the funeral, including bans on political slogans, martyr posters and public displays. They said the authorities warned of consequences if the instructions were not followed.
Al Jazeera reported that the only flag at the funeral was the Palestinian flag wrapped around Ahmad’s coffin. Ahmad was his parents’ only son after three daughters, and Yasmine said he was born after years of attempts to have a boy, including three failed rounds of fertility treatment.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.