In the Deir Ammar refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the death of three-month-old Ahmad Zaid has sparked outrage. His father, Maarouf Zaid, had just picked up his son's birth certificate that morning, but by afternoon, the family was racing against time to save the infant's life.
Ahmad's mother, Yasmine Zaid, found him unresponsive and rushed him to a nearby medical center. Staff attempted resuscitation while an ambulance was called to transfer him to a hospital in Ramallah. However, an Israeli military gate on the road between Deir Ammar and Ramallah blocked the ambulance's route.
The plan was to carry Ahmad to the gate, where medical staff would cross on foot to a waiting ambulance. But Israeli soldiers stationed there refused to open the gate and blocked the family from crossing. Maarouf pleaded with them to let his critically ill infant pass, but they yelled at the family to get back and threatened to shoot.
“They were angry and said they would shoot us. When they saw the boy, they paused. Then they became more violent,” said Fatima al-Abd Khalil, Maarouf's sister-in-law.
In desperation, Maarouf carried Ahmad toward the soldiers, his oxygen mask slipping off, and begged: “My son is going to die. Shoot me, just let my son pass.” Soldiers responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades, forcing the family to retreat to their car.
They were forced to take long, winding dirt roads to reach the ambulance. By the time Ahmad was in the ambulance at 3:20 pm, it was too late. He was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.
On the same day Maarouf received Ahmad's birth certificate, he went to collect his son's death certificate from Ramallah. Residents say the Deir Ammar military gate was closed indefinitely after Israel's war with Iran began in late February, isolating some 18,000 people.
“At least open the gate when someone is sick, when someone is about to die,” Yasmine said. Khalil said Ahmad's death is part of a wider reality faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation: “This is not the first, and it won't be the last time something like this happens.”
The World Health Organization documented 233 incidents affecting healthcare in the West Bank in 2025 alone, with most involving obstruction of access. The UN has recorded at least 925 Israeli movement obstacles across the West Bank, affecting 3.4 million Palestinians.
Ahmad was his parents' only son, born after three daughters following years of trying and three failed rounds of fertility treatment. The family said Israeli military authorities later gave instructions for his funeral, banning political slogans and martyr posters.
Source: www.aljazeera.com