Palestinian inmate has son after sneaking sperm to his wife
A Palestinian inmate in an Israeli prison had a son Monday after sneaking his sperm to his wife. Above is Hadarim prison where Ammar Ziben, the father, is serving 37 life sentences.
A Palestinian inmate in an Israeli prison had a baby boy Monday after sneaking sperm to his wife.
The boy, Muhannad, was born by Caesarian section from Dallal Ziben, a 32-year-old from the northern West Bank town of Nablus, said AFP.
The tale was made all the more unlikely as Palestinians are not allowed conjugal visits in Israeli-run prisons.
Ziben was pregnant with her second child when her husband, Ammar, was jailed by Israel.
Ammar was given 32 life sentences for his role in aiding Hamas carry out two suicide bombings in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market in 1997, said JTA.
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The new father was convicted by an Israeli military court in 1999 for the crime.
It is not clear how the family snuck the sperm out of Hadarim prison in central Israel, reported Naharnet.
The baby was born through artificial insemination by Palestinian doctors who helped the couple have a boy.
"The couple wanted a baby boy, so we carried out a gender separation procedure. We tried the insemination process three times from the same sample, but the first two attempts failed," Saalem Abu al-Kheizaran, the doctor who performed the insemination told AFP.
"For us it is a humanitarian issue — everyone has the right to be a parent. Prison must not stand in the way of this right."
Israeli prison authorities have not yet commented specifically on the case.
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