JERUSALEM: The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead in Gaza in 2000 yesterday said he was willing to have his son exhumed to disprove an Israeli report denying he was killed by Israeli gunfire.
The report released on Sunday by Israel is “completely fabricated,” Jamal Al Dura, whose son Mohammed was killed almost 13 years ago said.
“The Israelis are lying and trying to cover the truth,” he said, adding that he had asked for an international commission of inquiry into the incident.
“I’m ready... to open up the grave to examine the body and even the bullets that penetrated Mohammed,” he said.
Television footage of 12-year-old Mohammed held in his father’s arms near a Gaza crossroads at the start of the second intifada, or uprising against Israel, became a central component in the media war between Israel and the Palestinians.
The footage was broadcast by French news channel France 2 and seen worldwide.
Israel said the television report was “baseless”, following an analysis of the raw footage which also casts doubt over how the boy died.
The report was released ahead of a ruling on Wednesday in Paris on a defamation case between France 2 reporter Charles Enderlin and Philippe Karsenty, director of watchdog group Media Ratings. AFP
