A 14-year-old Israeli boy was seriously wounded overnight Wednesday after Palestinian attackers hurled a rock at his head near the West Bank village of Huwara.
The boy was initially taken to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and later moved to Schneider Children's Medical Center, where he was placed under an induced coma with respiratory support in a severe but stable condition.
The initial investigation shows that the attack occurred after a vehicle carrying several Jews stopped at the Huwara intersection, on the main road leading to the settlements of Yitzhar, Itamar, and Elon Moreh.
At the time, the youth and his brother were dancing to the sound of Purim music, when a vehicle carrying several Palestinian youths passed near them and started confronting them.
According to the Israelis' version, they tried to escape the scene when a rock hit the boy on the head from a short distance away. They continued driving to the central Yitzhar Junction, where they met IDF forces who provided first aid to the youth.
The Palestinians claimed that one of them was lightly injured during the incident.
Police and military forces took testimonies from the involved parties at the scene.
Also on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager succumbed to wounds sustained in clashes with IDF forces south of Nablus in the West Bank.
According to the ministry's statement, the teen was shot in the head by a live bullet during confrontations with IDF soldiers in the village of Beita and died in a hospital shortly after.
An IDF spokesperson said that the troops responded to a violent riot of some 500 Palestinians, many of whom hurled rocks at the soldiers and set tires on fire. The incident is being reviewed.