Hebron - A Palestinian mother blamed the Israeli army yesterday for the death of her infant son.
She claimed that soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank town of Hebron stopped the child from getting to hospital in time. The Israeli army said an investigation by its officers had uncovered no such incident.
Troops had sealed off Hebron since Friday while searching for a suspected Palestinian who stabbed a Jewish settler to death and set fire to his home.
Ms Sherine Badr al-Haddad (23) said she wanted to take her three-month-old son Qosay, one of a set of triplets, to Hebron's Alia hospital on Saturday because he had influenza. She said she had tried to pass through an Israeli army checkpoint but soldiers barred her entry, and she had to take a longer route. By the time she reached the hospital Qosay was dead.