Probe Confirms Palestinian “Martyr” Wasn’t Killed by IDF

An official Israeli probe of accusations that a Palestinian boy who was killed by IDF fire during the intifada in 2000 has not only proved them false but has shown that the “victim” was not even hurt in the incident.

Twelve-year-old Gazan Muhammad al-Dura became a worldwide “martyr” at the time, but the findings of the exhaustive investigation, submitted to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, revealed that it was pure propaganda.

The government panel determined that “the France 2 report’s …. accusations had no basis in the material which the station had in its possession at the time…There is no evidence that the IDF was in any way responsible for causing any of the alleged injuries to Jamal [the father] or the boy.”

“Contrary to the [French] report’s claim that the boy was killed, review of the raw footage showed that in the final scenes, which were not broadcast by France 2, the boy is … alive.”

The investigative panel was formed by then-minister of strategic affairs Moshe Ya’alon in September 2012. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser carried out the investigation.

At first, Israel accepted responsibility for Dura’s “death. He had been caught in crossfire between Palestinian and IDF forces at the Netzarim junction in September 2000. A subsequent examination of the case cast doubt on the story.

The new findings will hopefully settle the 13-year-old dispute over al-Dura’s fate and confirm theories that he was never killed, at least not by the IDF.

Dura would be about 25 years old today, unless he was killed later in a separate incident.

Kuperwasser said that a French video of the incident that was circulated around the world was staged, with or without the knowledge of France 2 news.

Kuperwasser added that the full results of the investigation would be ready in the near future.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the May 20th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.