CNN Reporter Shot In The Head With Rubber Bullet By Israeli Forces, Not Seriously Injured (Video)
The recent surge in violence in the Middle East from Iraq to Israel has many on edge.
CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman, who has previously served as Paris bureau chief for the cable network, was reporting in Israel last week when he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by Israeli Defense Forces.
Wedeman went on air a short time later to report on the hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians following the discovery of the bodies of three missing Israeli teens and the resulting violence between the two groups. But he described the pain of the bullet hitting him, according to The Wire.
“‘It hurt. It was a bit like getting hit by a rock. A lot of blood came out. But there were medics nearby and they attended to it.’
“… He added that he was between ‘a rock and a hard place,’ some gallows humor given the ambient stone-throwing. Wedeman was covering the heavy rioting that followed the funeral of Muhammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian who was killed earlier this week. Khdeir’s death has been called a suspected revenge attack following the discovery of the bodies of three murdered Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank last month.”
Wedeman himself tweeted about getting shot shortly after the incident happened:
Took an Israeli police rubber bullet to the head. Just a scratch. After a few minutes to clean up, back to work. Stay calm and carry on.
— benwedeman (@bencnn) July 4, 2014
Apparently this is not the first time Wedeman has been shot, according to another tweet:
Omg RT @clancycnn: Get well soon! @BenCNN Wedeman shot (for a 2nd time) by #Israel forces. head wound caused by rubber coated steel bullet
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) July 4, 2014
Yahoo! News notes that the violence that literally caught CNN’s reporter in the crossfire now involves more than physical clashes between the different factions:
“Violence has been steady this week with rocket fire from Gaza striking towns in southern Israel, clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians, targeted Israeli airstrikes against terrorist targets in Gaza, and more calls for revenge by each side.”
The Israeli Defense Forces have been in the news for more than just the shooting of CNN’s reporter this week.
The Israeli military also had its Twitter account hacked, which resulted in a temporary nuclear scare in the tiny coastal Middle Eastern nation.
[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]
