An elderly Palestinian woman died Saturday in Jerusalem when she suffered a heart attack while praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque.
She was identified as Sumayya Mahmoud Nasser, 68, from the Jit area in the land that is now Israel.
Israeli forces stationed outside the mosque prevented an ambulance from reaching her immediately, and the medical team on site was unable to revive her without the medical equipment available on the ambulance.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the Palestinian medics at the al-Aqsa Mosque rushed to the woman after she collapsed while praying. They immediately called for an ambulance, which was stationed near the Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.
But the Israeli soldiers prevented the ambulance from entering the mosque grounds, delaying it for nearly ten minutes without providing a reason for the delay.
They then let the ambulance pass through to the mosque, where the emergency medical team prepared the defibrillator to use on the woman, but by that time it was too late. She did not survive the rescue attempts, and was declared dead on the way to the hospital.
Several Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces over the past several days, including a four-year old child.
