A new Israeli investigation says the claim that Israeli troops shot a Palestinian boy in 2000 is baseless, according to raw video footage captured at the scene.
In 2000, news reports widely attributed the death of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed al-Dura, to IDF troops. A 2000 television report from the second day of the Second Infitada showed Mohammed and his father, Jamal, taking cover behind a concrete wall, caught in the apparent crossfire between Israelis and Palestinians.
Despite the presence of a number of news agencies on that day, only one network captured video of the shooting: France 2, by a Palestinian cameraman.
"Contrary to the report's claim that the boy is killed, the committee's review of the raw footage showed that in the final scenes, which were not broadcast by France 2, the boy is seen to be alive," the Israeli report reads.
The France 2 television report in 2000, which was widely circulated, contained no footage of the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Questions have been raised previously about the boy's death, particularly about the angle from which he was shot and the Israeli position on the day of the shooting: It is not clear Mohammed and Jamal al-Dura were shot at from the Israeli position.
In response to the Israeli report, the BBC reports, the French news network said it would support a potential exhumation:
Following the publication of the Israeli report, France 2 said it had "shown a willingness to participate in any official independent investigation, carried out according to international standards".
It said it was also willing to assist if Jamal al-Dura decided to carry out an exhumation "to help clarify the circumstances" of his son's death.
Jamal al-Dura dismissed the Israeli conclusions as fabricated.
"The Israelis are lying and trying to cover the truth," he told AFP news agency.