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Doctors at Haemek Medical Center in Afula were forced to declare a two-and-a-half-year-old girl dead after five days of efforts to stabilize her condition following a pool accident.

Last week, the toddler was pulled from the pool after nearly drowning while staying at a babysitter’s home in the town of Beit Shean, north of the Jordan Valley in northeastern Israel.

MDA emergency first responders were called to the scene, and attempted to resuscitate the child before evacuating her to Haemek Medical Center in Afula in critical condition.

“At the entrance of the house we say a small child lying unconscious,” said MDA paramedic Moshe Levy.

“They told us that she had nearly drowned in the pool, and by the time she was pulled out of the water, she had no pulse and was not breathing. We provided first aid at the scene, then evacuated her to Haemek hospital while performing advanced resuscitation techniques. Her condition has been listed as critical.”

On Tuesday, officials from Haemek Medical Center announced that the toddler had passed away, despite efforts by the medical staff to stabilize her condition.

Police opened an investigation into the incident last week, and have questioned the girl’s babysitter, a 40-year-old resident of Beit Shean.