An Israeli Arab protestor was injured in the head by a gas grenade Friday afternoon during the weekly anti-fence rally in the West Bank village of Bilin.
According to left-wing activists, the man had sustained serious wounds, but an Israel Defense Forces official rejected the claims and said he was only lightly injured. The protestor was evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, which determined that his condition was moderate.
The man, Imad Razka of Jaffa, was first evacuated to a hospital in Ramallah and his friends made efforts to transfer him to an Israeli medical center. He was later transferred to the Hadassah Hospital, which confirmed that he was suffering from a head injury and said he may be operated on later Friday and then transferred to the neurosurgical ward.
Injured protestor Imad Razka (Photo: Hamde Abu Rahma)
The IDF Spokesperson's Office said the protestors had hurled stones at the security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means.
The incident took place during the weekly demonstrations against the separation fence route in the villages of Bilin and Naalin, where the "fifth Bilin conference on the non-violent popular struggle against the fence and settlements" was held this week.
According to the army, some 80 Palestinians residents and foreign and Israeli left-wing activists protested ion Naalin and hurled stones at the security forces. Some 200 protestors clashed with the soldiers in Bilin, an IDF official said.
Shmulik Grossman contributed to this report