The condition of a 15-year-old boy stabbed Thursday night in the southern city of Ashkelon is improving, the city's Barzilai Medical Center said Saturday.
Initially, the teen was in critical condition, unconscious and on a ventilator.
The hospital added that doctors had succeeded in stabilizing his condition, and since Saturday morning, he is conscious and no longer on a ventilator.
"Doctors at Barzilai Medical Center have succeeded in stabilizing the condition the youth who arrived during the night between Thursday and Friday suffering deadly stab wounds," the statement from Barzilai said. "Beginning this morning, he is no longer on a ventilator, he is conscious, and he is still hospitalized in the intensive care unit."
The youth was stabbed by a 13-year-old boy after a fight broke out over a box of cigarettes. The stabber has been arrested, and in a police interrogation admitted to the attack.
According to him, the reason for the attack was a disagreement over a package of cigarettes.
On Friday afternoon, the Ashkelon Magistrates Court extended the stabber's arrest until Monday.