The Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital reported this evening (Saturday night) that the boy injured in a clash with the IDF in the Binyamin region is hospitalized in the intensive care unit. He is fully conscious with mild injuries and is slated for surgery tomorrow. Medical tests indicate that the boy was hit by a live bullet and not a rubber bullet as initially reported.
Meanwhile, the battalion commander who claims he was attacked during Friday night has given his version of events. "I have been in the sector for 20 years - they brought us to a situation where 90% of our time in this place, we are dealing with preventing Hilltop Youth from setting fields on fire," he said.
"This event did not start yesterday - it is the same people filmed in arson attacks in the village of Al Mughayir with drawn weapons, we saw them choking one of the soldiers. I was punched, one of the vehicles was pelted with rocks, one of the vehicles was rammed, and the tires were punctured," he told Galei Tzahal.
"They threatened us and said we wouldn't leave there alive. The day before I received insults, they called me a Nazi, cursed and spit on me. The Binyamin region is more precious to me than anything else - we come to reserves time after time with a sense of mission, and now we have to deal with such events."
The civilians involved have denied the allegations and claimed that the officer threatened to kill them.