More al-Dura: What the Israeli PM's office is saying

According to this new article in Haaretz, the Israeli Prime Minister's office is out-and-out saying that the death of Mohammed al-Dura was staged. Lead of the Haaretz story:

The September 2000 death of Palestinian child Mohammed Al-Dura in the Gaza Strip was staged by a Gaza cameraman, Government Press Office (GPO) Director Daniel Seaman said yesterday.

Seaman made the comments in an official letter, representing the Prime Minister's Office, in response to demands he strip France 2 journalists of their GPO credentials. France 2 had broadcast the original footage of Al-Dura's death on September 30, 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada.

The story does not reveal the basis of this conclusion; nonetheless, the announcement is news. As the story says about the official position until now:

In recent years Israel has avoided relating to the incident, mostly because of the Foreign Ministry's recommendation that renewed handling of the affair would not help Israel's image in any case. In 2005, five years after the shooting, the Prime Minister's Bureau refused Seaman's proposal to publish an official stance denying responsibility for Al-Dura's death.

This is a story worth following, especially with the unfolding legal developments in Paris (explained in Haaretz). Thanks to Moshe Alamaro for this lead.