Police close case into alleged pepper-spray attack on 9-year-old Armenian boy in Jerusalem
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A 9-year-old Armenian boy was allegedly attacked with pepper spray in Jerusalem during Yom Kippur in what a local journalist described as an assault by Jewish extremists.
Israeli Channel 13 journalist Yossi Eli said on his X account that the boy, identified as William, was riding a bicycle near Jerusalem’s Mamilla neighborhood, listening to music through headphones. According to the journalist, a group of young people approached the child, threatened him and demanded that he remove his headphones, after which they sprayed him with pepper spray.
The journalist also published footage showing the child receiving medical assistance in an ambulance. He identified the attackers as Jewish extremists.
According to the journalist, this was the second attack against the child. During the first incident, William was with his father, who protected him, while the child was alone this time.
William’s mother told the journalist that after the incident, her son has difficulty sleeping and is afraid of people of “Jewish appearance.”
The journalist claims that the incident was captured by security camera footage, but that police closed the case without arresting anyone.
In recent months, other incidents targeting Israel’s Armenian community and religious institutions have also been recorded in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter. On August 2, police arrested six ultra-Orthodox Jews who, according to police, struck the entrance door of the St. James Monastery and also threw stones toward the monastic complex.