The term “Ballistics” describes the study of the projectile dynamics. This section explores the evidence regarding the trajectory of bullets that hit the wall behind the Al Durahs and those alleged to have hit the Al Durahs.
As revealed in the ‘Problematic Testimonies’ section of this site, not a single bullet (or fragment) of the “hundreds” alleged to have been fired at the Al Durahs has ever been produced. Nor has any film evidence confirming the caliber of the ordinance ever been produced. This, despite the fact that France2 visited the barrel with other reporters and Palestinian police the day after the incident –and Tala Abu Rahma’s varying testimony that France2 either filmed or collected bullets from the wall. Prior to publishing its latest investigation of the matter, Israel requested through diplomatic channels that France2 (a state-owned media outlet), produce all evidence about the ordinance in its possession – to no avail. The evidence concerning what is known about the bullets fired at the wall and barrel by the Al Durahs appears on the Analysis:Bullets page of this site.
In France2’s raw footage of the incident, we see only one bullet actually hit the wall by the Al Durahs. From that shot and the other bullet holes that appear in the wall over the course of the footage (even though we don’t see the actual shots that produced them) we are able to discern the trajectory of fire toward the Al Durahs. This, coupled with a knowledge of the firing positions operating on the day of the incident allows us to deduce most probable sources of the fire and eliminate other possibilities as untenable.
Elihu Stone, Facing the Evidence Head On
The Israeli position was located approximately 80 meters from the barrel where the Al Durahs were located and at a 30 degree angle to it. If bullets fired from the Israeli position had struck the wall behind the Al Durahs the bullets would have left elliptical marks on the wall, not round ones. A round hole on the wall indicates that the source of fire making the impression thereon is located directly head-on to the wall.
In addition, the dust kicked up from a head-on gunshot toward a stone wall, such as the one behind the Al Durahs is relatively small and round in shape. A shot striking a wall from a 30 degree angle would produce a much larger dust cloud, elliptical in shape.
Near the beginning of the Al Durah sequence in Talal abu Rahma’s footage we can see a single shot strike the wall. See the photos below, captured at Time Code Reading (TCR) 1:17:06:05 through TCR 1:17:06:23, followed by a frame taken at 1:17:07: 06, approximately one second after the shot hit the wall. The shot strikes at TCR 1:17:06:10 [24 seconds into France2’s September 30, 2000 broadcast] at a spot on the wall two blocks above Muhammad’s head and one block over to the left, as we face him. A that point, almost directly below the shot that strikes the wall, there already appears to be another bullet hole near Muhammad – one block above his head level and one block over to our left as we face the boy. This previous bullet hole is also round, evidencing a prior discharge from directly in front of the Al Durahs. By the frames at TCR 1:17:6:15 through 1:17:6:20 we can already discern the new, second, hole clearly as the dust from the shot has dissipated and the camera focus is improved.
N.B. The dust cloud created by the one shot we see hitting the wall is clearly round, as is the hole created by the shot. In fact, all other bullet holes we can see in the wall near the Al Durahs are similarly round in shape, indicating that all shots fired toward them at the time of the filming emanated from the Palestinian position located at the “Pita” directly opposite the Al Durahs -and not from the Israeli position, which stood at a 30 degree angle to the site.
Click on Images Below to Expand
Testimony and a detailed report by French ballistics Jean-Claude Schlinger, who testified at the January installment of the Karsenty trial makes clear that the fire described by Abu Rahma and Enderlin as coming the Israeli position could not possibly have come from there given the ballistic evidence. France2 and Charles Enderlin have presented no ballistics evidence.
Below is the video of the bullet hitting the wall (both in real time and slow-motion) followed by “stills”, so that you can examine the footage frame by frame. First, the real time footage:
Here is the slowed down footage:
