Part of camping stove removed from police officer’s head after Tel Aviv riots

Doctors removed part of a camping stove from a police officer’s head, apparently thrown at him during clashes with Eritrean asylum seekers in Tel Aviv, Channel 12 reports.

The officer is hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv in a serious condition.

He is among 50 officers who were injured during the violent clashes between supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government.

“If we weren’t there today and we wouldn’t have intervened between the two groups of demonstrators — the supporters and opponents of the regime — we would be counting bodies,” a senior police official tells Channel 12.

“We protected ourselves and tried to separate and calm the field. There were police officers here who feared a danger to their lives and were forced to use live fire. They fired stun grenades in order to disperse the event,” he says.

שוטר מאושפז במצב קשה לאחר שנפצע במהומות בת"א – חלק מגזייה הוצא מראשו
https://t.co/Sjs7IBO8On@BranuTegene | @OrRavid pic.twitter.com/SibjGRCngQ

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 2, 2023