It was 24 years ago when a Palestinian man was filmed shielding his son behind a concrete block on a Gaza street amid firing by Israeli soldiers. After the shooting, a 12-year-old boy was seen lying unconscious in his father’s lap. The heartbreaking incident involving Jamal al-Durrah and his son Muhammad became the defining image of the second Palestinian uprising.
Jamal was hit by 12 bullets on September 30, 2000. The powerful image of the father-son duo behind a concrete block amid Israeli shelling was also cited by al-Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks on the US.
Twenty-three years later, Jamal lost two of his brothers, a sister-in-law, and a niece during Israeli retaliation in an October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. Jamal is one of thousands of Palestinians reliving the horror of the second intifada Israel attacks Gaza to eliminate Hamas,
Disclaimer: The following video contains disturbing scenes
What happened on 30 September 2000?
The father-son duo’s day started with a car buying trip. They had no idea of the tragedy that was about to unfold. Jamal and Muhammad traveled from their home in Burij refugee camp to a car market in Gaza City.
In 2000, the Gaza Strip was filled with Israeli military checkpoints and army checkpoints to protect 21 Jewish settlements.
However, luck ran out on Al-Durah and he had to return without purchasing the car. They set out on their return journey in a taxi. However, the taxi had to stop at the Netzarim junction, located between northern and southern Gaza, as fighting broke out between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian youth.
Jamal and Muhammad set out to cross the Netzarim Junction on foot. Amid heavy firing, the father-son duo took shelter behind a cement block diagonally across from an Israeli military post.
Jamal recalled the incident in an interview with The Guardian in 2013, saying, “I was raising my hands and telling them to stop, but they didn’t stop shooting.”
Jamal and his son remained in the fire for 45 minutes. “These seconds seemed like hours, days… When he got the first shot, I was telling him, don’t be afraid, the ambulance will come. When he fell in my lap, I realized he was dead. ” Jamal said.
This horrific incident was captured on camera by a journalist working for France 2. The video showed Mohammed hiding behind his father and screaming in fear.
Jamal was treated for three months in a hospital in Jordan. Two years after the incident, Jamal had another son, and named him Muhammad.
However, this incident led to a long and bitter war leading to Muhammad’s death. An Israeli report commissioned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that the entire incident may have been staged as a propaganda exercise.
However, the claims were rejected by Jamal, Talal Abu Rahma, the cameraperson who filmed the incident, and France 2.