Tue, 3 Oct 2000 02:14:25 -0700
At approximately 2:30pm yesterday afternoon, Israeli occupation forces killed 12 year old, Mohammed Jamal Ahmad Al-Dura, of Gaza, in cold blood while he was seeking protection with his father from Israeli fire. Minutes after killing Mohammed, Israeli forces, who were positioned a few meters from the father and son, shot and seriously wounded his father, 42 year old, Jamal Al-Dura. Shortly thereafter, when Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance driver Bassam Al-Balbisi, 45, approached the father and son in order to move them into an ambulance, he was shot and killed by the Israeli soldiers as well. Jamal, the father of five remaining children, is in critical condition, having sustained five bullets, to the upper thigh, pelvis, stomach, and lower leg.

The killings took place shortly after Israeli soldiers opened fire spontaneously and randomly on a group of Palestinian protestors near the illegal Israeli settlement of Netzarim. As the crowd dispersed in all directions, Mohammed and his father took shelter behind a concrete block, approximately 3ft. square. French Channel 2 cameraman, Talal Abu Rahma, who was positioned only a few meters away from the cowering father and son, captured the sequence of events on film. The footage, which was broadcast locally and internationally yesterday, clearly shows the father attempting to shield his son with his body, while calling and gesturing for the soldiers to cease firing. Moreover, the footage makes clear that neither the father, nor his young son, posed any threat whatsoever to the lives of the Israeli soldiers, an excuse routinely offered by Israeli military sources when justifying the killing of Palestinian civilians. Disregarding the father's pleas for help, Israeli military forces shot both the father and son in cold blood. Three other Palestinians were martyred yesterday as a result of the indiscriminate firing of the Israeli military forces near Netzarim settlement.

As of 9am this morning, Israeli military forces have killed 23 Palestinians since confrontations erupted throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories on Thursday, 28 September. This number includes 6 children: 3 from Gaza, 1 from Nablus, 1 from Ramallah, and 1 from Jerusalem, the latter of whom died yesterday as a result of injuries sustained on Friday. In addition, over 900 Palestinians have been injured. Of the total wounded, 14 remain in critical condition. According to DCI/PS documentation, no less than 206 Palestinian children were wounded in yesterday's confrontations alone.