TEL AVIV, June 7: A Palestinian woman has given birth to rare septuplets but one infant girl died shortly after birth, doctors said on Monday. They said Hala Eid, 26, from the nearby West Bank city of Bethlehem , bore four boys and three girls - the smallest of which weighed 540 grams - by Caesarean delivery overnight at a hospital in occupied Al Quds.

"They are in critical but stable condition," said presiding Doctor Ayman Sbetan, adding the first-time mother was "anxious" over her babies' condition. He said Eid got pregnant after taking fertility-enhancing drugs, and she declined surgery to reduce the number of babies.

Septuplet births are very rare. The first set known to have survived for more than a few days was born in the U.S. state of Iowa in 1997. They have had intermittent health problems but are said to be doing well. A handful of other septuplet births have been reported in the Middle East. -Reuters