Palestinian inmate’s sperm ‘escapes’

A Palestinian woman gave birth to a boy this week using sperm that was smuggled to her from her husband, a Hamas member who has been in an Israeli prison for 15 years and is serving multiple life terms.

Ammar al-Zein’s sperm was smuggled out of the Israeli jail three years ago. The child, the couple’s third, was conceived with his genetic material via artificial insemination.at the Razan Medical Center in Nablus.

According to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, after two failed attempts, Al-Zein’s wife Dalal, 31, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, weighing 3.8 kg.

The parents named the child Muhammed, after a friend of the family who they said was killed by the IDF. They already had one child when Al-Zein was jailed, and Dalal was pregnant at the time with their second.

The parties involved refused to give details of the smuggling and the conception.

Dalal was quoted by Ma’an as saying, “This accomplishment is dedicated to the Palestinian people, namely prisoners and their families.”

Al-Zein was reported to be serving 25 life terms. Ma’an gave no details of his offenses.