A Syrian woman holds her child after giving birth in Israel. Photo: Channel 2 Israel.

For the first time since Syrian refugees began seeking medical attention in Israel, a woman has given birth to a child in the country.

According to reports, the woman lived in the town of Quneitra, just across the border on the Golan Heights, and was unable to get to a Syrian hospital, as the town was closed off by Syrian troops. The 20-year-old woman approached Israeli soldiers and, when they realized her predicament, they immediately rushed her to  Ziv Hospital in Safed. There she gave birth to a baby girl.

“Happily the Israeli army saw that I suffered from severe pain, picked me up and took me to a hospital in Israel,” the woman told Israel’s Channel 2 website.

The woman said that she was initially nervous about entering Israel but that she was ultimately treated with “respect and sensitivity,” and that “the birth was uneventful.”

I do “not feel like I’m in an enemy country, everyone has helped me and cared for me,” she added.

Syrians have increasingly looked to Israel for medical assistance as the civil war in their country nears its third year. While no statistics for the exact number of refugees who have reached Israel are available, estimates place the number in the hundreds.