12-Year-Old Palestinian Boy Killed in Father's Arms on Camera
Muhammad al-Durrah's death during Gaza crossfire, captured by French TV, becomes symbol of Second Intifada's human cost.
Twelve-year-old Muhammad al-Durrah was shot dead while cowering behind his father during a gun battle between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen at Gaza’s Netzarim junction today, in an incident captured on camera that has shocked viewers worldwide.
French television correspondent Charles Enderlin filmed the terrifying sequence showing the boy and his father, Jamal, crouching behind a concrete cylinder as bullets flew around them. The father desperately tried to shield his son while waving for the shooting to stop.
Despite the father’s pleas, the boy was struck by bullets and slumped across his father’s lap. Jamal al-Durrah was critically wounded with multiple gunshot wounds. The footage shows the child’s final moments as his father screamed in anguish.
The killing occurred on the third day of widespread violence that has left over 30 Palestinians dead. The boy and his father were caught in crossfire while returning from a car auction, trapped for 45 minutes as a gun battle raged.
Israeli military officials expressed regret but said troops at the outpost were returning fire at Palestinian gunmen shooting from the area. Palestinians accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting civilians.
The horrific images, broadcast globally, have become an instant symbol of the new Intifada’s brutality. The boy’s death in his father’s arms encapsulates the human tragedy unfolding as violence engulfs the territories.
The incident has inflamed Palestinian anger and drawn international condemnation, with the haunting footage likely to define perceptions of the emerging conflict.