MOSCOW, December 25 (Sputnik) — Jerusalem Police have retracted their claim that they did not use riot control equipment to disperse Wednesday's demonstration, during which a 5-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the face and hospitalized, Haaretz reported Thursday citing a police statement.
According to the local residents cited by the newspaper, the boy was shot in the face with a sponge-tipped bullet while standing outside his East Jerusalem home. The hospital confirmed that he was shot, yet the police stated they were not aware riot gear was used.
"The force dispersed the rioters using the means. It is not known if a child was injured during this incident," Thursday's police statement said, as quoted by Haaretz.
According to the media outlet, Israeli police officers clashed with children and teenagers throwing stones at vehicles on an East Jerusalem road. The 5-year-old boy, named Mohammed Jamal Obeid, was wounded in the face by a sponge-tipped bullet while standing outside his house nearby. The hospital confirmed that he was shot, stating his injury was compatible with being shot with a rubber bullet. The police initially stated they were not aware of use of riot control equipment at the spot.
According to Haaretz, if the police did indeed shoot the boy, Obeid is the second child to be wounded by this type of bullet in Israel. In Israel it is explicitly prohibited by police regulations to fire sponge-tipped bullets at the upper body.
