A 13-year-old boy has alleged that an Israeli police officer chased and beat him during a protest at Shilo Junction over the recent detention of an Israeli reservist by Palestinian Authority security personnel near Beitunia.

The demonstration followed an unusual incident earlier this week in western Binyamin, where PA security personnel stopped an Israeli reservist traveling on a road near Beitunia and took his army-issued weapon.

The Civil Administration initially included the incident among cases involving Israelis entering Palestinian-controlled areas, but later issued a correction, acknowledging that the reservist had not entered Area A and that the encounter occurred in Area C near Beitunia.

According to the reservist's account, he initially believed he was approaching an Israeli police checkpoint. After realizing that the men were PA security personnel, he said they pointed weapons at him, forcibly removed him from his vehicle, took his firearm and drove him into Ramallah while he was handcuffed.

Security officials offered a different account of the circumstances leading to the encounter, saying PA personnel had noticed a gathering forming around the Israeli and feared for his safety. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated.

The incident prompted protests, including a demonstration at Shilo Junction.

Elisha Yered subsequently publicized testimony from a 13-year-old participant, identified only as Yitzchak, who alleged that police used excessive force while dispersing the demonstration.

The boy said that while he was filming the protest, an officer began chasing him and ordered him to stop recording.

“He told me to turn off the camera and threw me to the ground,” the boy alleged. He further claimed that after being placed inside a police vehicle, he was struck repeatedly.

The boy said he was left with pain throughout his body and a hematoma on one shoulder.

The allegations against the police have not been independently verified, and no police response to the boy's specific account was located at the time of publication.

Footage circulated from the demonstration, but the available clip does not by itself establish the full sequence of events described in the testimony.

The original detention near Beitunia has meanwhile generated criticism from Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz, who accused PA security forces of operating outside their authority in Area C and demanded action to ensure safe travel on roads in the area.