JERUSALEM, May 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A pregnant Israeli woman wounded in the West Bank when her vehicle was attacked has died, while her baby was delivered via an emergency caesarean section, the hospital said Thursday.

The woman, along with a male passenger, was driving near the Israeli settlement of Bruchin in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday when their vehicle was shot at, according to Israeli authorities.

Bruchin is an Israeli settlement in the centre of the Palestinian territory, and considered illegal under international law.

The Beilinson hospital outside of Tel Aviv said medical teams in the trauma ward battled throughout the night to save the woman and her foetus.

"After struggling to save the life of the woman who was critically injured in the shooting attack in Samaria and arrived during resuscitation, the medical teams were forced to pronounce her dead," Beilinson Hospital said in a statement, using the biblical name to refer to the West Bank.

It added that the baby was delivered via caesarean section and transferred to another medical centre.

The man was described as being in a "mild" condition.

Emergency services had earlier said the woman driver, aged about 30, suffered "critical" gunshot wounds, while a male passenger around the age of 40 was "in a grave state".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "deeply shocked by the horrific terrorist attack against a woman in advanced pregnancy and her husband".

"This abhorrent incident precisely reflects the difference between us, who desire and bring life, and the reprehensible terrorists, whose goal is to kill us and destroy life," he said in the statement released by his office.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the West Bank has seen an upsurge in violence.

Bruchin is an Israeli settlement built on West Bank land without the Israeli authorities' approval, which was retroactively legalised by the Israeli government.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law.