The family of Yechiam Eyal, a 15-year-old who was severely injured by club-wielding mounted police in Amona last year, is suing the government for $250,000 in damages.



Yechiam was on one of the rooftops of the nine houses slated for demolition in the hilltop community of Amona, near Ofra on February 1, 2006. He was beaten repeatedly with a club to the head by Yassam riot police, cracking his skull. According to medical reports, he was in critical condition, and stopped breathing and lost heartbeat in the ambulance on the way to the hospital after finally being evicted from the rooftop.



Though clinically dead, the ambulance crew took life-support measures and managed to revive the boy. He was treated in the Intensive Care Unit and eventually discharged, but with health problems that accompany him to this day.



Police investigators say they have been unsuccessful in determining which Yassam riot police officers were responsible for the attack. "My son did not deserve a death sentence, even if he was where he did not belong," Yechiam’s father told B’Sheva newspaper. "Police used a government authority to punish him brutally and the government must be punished," he added.



The Eyals, represented by attorney Avi Naor, are suing the police and the state, claiming the beating administered to Yechiam was “not given in order to take him from the roof, but mainly to administer a serious physical punishment, to hurt him and intimidate him.”



Police recently released a tape they claim was the briefing given to security forces prior to Amona. Closer examination by the Israel Policy Center and Arutz-7 revealed several anomalies that point to the tape having been both doctored and staged.

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