Palestinian woman loses baby after being shot

NABLUS, WEST BANK: A pregnant Palestinian woman lost her baby on Thursday after being shot by Israeli soldiers during an incursion into a West Bank refugee camp, local security and medical sources said.

A bullet lodged in the head of Maha Qatuni's seven-month old foetus during an exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in the Ein Beit Ilman refugee camp in Nablus, her husband and medics said.

Raaft Qatuni said his wife was at home when she was wounded. Palestinian security and medical sources confirmed that Qatuni, who is already a mother of three, lost her baby as a result of being hit by an Israeli bullet.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military was checking claims that a pregnant woman had been shot.

Another army spokesman confirmed an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen, saying the forces identified hitting two of them and that an Israeli soldier had been lightly wounded in Ein Beit Ilman.

Palestinian sources said a 16-year-old boy was also wounded in the raid, and that four Palestinians were arrested during another Nablus operation.