The Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center released an update on Saturday night regarding the teenage boy who was wounded during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers in the Binyamin area. The hospital stated that the youth is conscious and in stable condition, though he remains in the intensive care unit. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Sunday. After conducting examinations, doctors determined that the boy was struck by a live round, contradicting earlier reports which claimed he had been hit by a rubber bullet.
In the wake of the incident, the IDF battalion commander who says he was assaulted during the confrontation has offered his account of what transpired. “I have been operating in this area for two decades – and the reality we face is that 90% of our efforts here are spent stopping Hilltop Youth from committing acts of arson,” he stated.
He went on to describe the escalation of tensions with the same group of individuals previously seen setting fires in the Arab village of Al Mughayir, allegedly carrying weapons. “We witnessed them choking a soldier. I was physically attacked, rocks were thrown at one of our vehicles, another vehicle was rammed, and tires were slashed,” he recounted during an interview with Galei Tzahal.
“They told us outright that we wouldn’t leave there alive. Just a day earlier, I was verbally assaulted – they called me a Nazi, cursed at me, and spat in my direction. The Binyamin region means more to me than anything – we show up again and again for reserve duty because we believe in what we’re doing, and now we find ourselves forced to confront these kinds of situations,” he added.
The civilians who were present during the altercation have rejected the commander’s account, insisting that it was actually he who issued a threat to kill them.
{Matzav.com Israel}