20 years on, cameraman recalls Israeli killing of 11-year-old Palestinian

Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the brutal shooting death of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy Muhammad al-Durrah by Israeli regime soldiers in the Gaza Strip despite desperate efforts by his father -- Jamal, who was injured in the incident -- to shield him from a hail of bullets.

Muhammad was killed on September 30, 2000 following a protest rally by local Palestinians in reaction to the provocative visit to the Noble Sanctuary of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by hawkish Israeli general and politician Ariel Sharon (1928-2014). The child’s killers have never been brought to justice by the Israeli regime or any international authority.

The images of the vicious police response to the demonstration caused widespread outrage among Palestinians and led to the Aqsa Intifada. The uprising lasted until February 2005 and left nearly 5,000 Palestinians killed, including almost 1,000 children.

The atrocity by the Israeli regime forces came after Sharon – who had also led the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians years earlier in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon – marched into the holy Islamic site with a number of right-wing Israeli officials two days earlier on September 28 while protected by some 2,000 military police officers.

The move sparked an angry protest by Palestinian Muslims worshiping inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the time.
 




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