The Moqassed Hospital in East Jerusalem refused to release a baby to its mother for two months until she paid her hospital bill, according to news reports. The Health Ministry ordered the hospital to release the baby to its mother only after the Justice Ministry’s legal aid department intervened. The woman gave birth prematurely to triplets and the babies needed extensive hospitalization. Because the babies’ father is a resident of the Palestinian Authority, the hospital kept the one of the three babies as a guarantee. The ministry is now looking into assisting the mother in suing the hospital for damages.