RAMALLAH, Palestine

A sick Palestinian woman died at an Israeli checkpoint after being hindered from reaching hospital in the occupied West Bank, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement said Eman Jaradat, 45, suffered a heart attack and was being transferred to hospital when her ambulance was obstructed by Israeli soldiers at Beit Einun checkpoint in northeastern Hebron Tuesday night.

According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, the Israeli army has toughened restrictions across the West Bank for the third day in a row, with hundreds of vehicles lining up in long queues at checkpoints in the occupied territory.

Abdullah Abu Rahma, a local activist, said the Israeli restrictions were imposed amid an ongoing military operation in the northern city of Jenin.

"The Israeli army established 14 gates and military checkpoints in just one week, taking the number of checkpoints in the West Bank to 898,” he told Anadolu.

At least ten Palestinians were killed and 40 others injured in the Israeli military operation in Jenin on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.

An Israeli military statement said that the operation in Jenin, code-named "Iron Wall," is expected to last several days.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, where at least 47,000 victims have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 110,700 injured since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 870 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,700 injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending the Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar