Israel has stepped up its military operation in the occupied West Bank
Newshour
BBC
4.4 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israeli tanks have been sent into the northern part of the occupied West Bank for the first time in decades. Israel has expelled the residents of three refugee camps in the territory as it steps up its military presence there. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said Palestinian camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams were now empty and would be occupied by the military for a year.
Also on the programme: Germans are voting in one of the country's most consequential parliamentary elections of recent times; and we hear from a former BBC entertainment correspondent about the changing art of interviewing stars from Bette Davis to Ethan Hawke.
(Photo: Israeli soldiers stand near a tank as it is positioned just outside the occupied West Bank on the Israeli side of the north barrier between Israel and the occupied West Bank on February 23, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Rami Amichay)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. |
| 0:07.8 | I'm Rebecca Kesbby and we start the programme today in the Middle East |
| 0:11.9 | where this morning the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, |
| 0:15.8 | announced that the military is deploying a tank division to the Janine refugee camp |
| 0:20.6 | in the occupied West Bank. |
| 0:22.5 | It's the first time in around 20 years that Israeli tanks have been deployed to the north of the West Bank. |
| 0:28.9 | The Israeli military said it has expelled all the people living in Janine and two other refugee camps, |
| 0:35.5 | Tolkham and Nersham. |
| 0:37.3 | Those areas are now empty, say the IDF, and will be occupied by Israeli forces for the next year. |
| 0:44.1 | In a written statement, Mr Katz said he wanted to clear the, quote, nests of terror. |
| 0:49.2 | Well, these latest military developments in the West Bank come just hours after Israel indefinitely delayed the |
| 0:55.0 | release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners who were due to be freed yesterday as part of |
| 1:01.4 | the ceasefire agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had repeatedly |
| 1:07.6 | violated the agreement and he condemned what he called the cynical use of the hostages |
| 1:13.5 | for propaganda purposes. But the decision came at the last moment when some Palestinian prisoners |
| 1:19.5 | had already boarded buses. Shireen al-Hamre is the sister of one prisoner, Erzaldin, who was sentenced to life. |
| 1:37.0 | The resistance in Gaza has proven worthy by respecting the deadline and respecting the handover of prisoners at a specific time, in excellent condition and good health. |
| 1:42.5 | While the Zionist occupation is trying to delay and play on the nerves of prisoners' families and their children. |
| 1:51.4 | Well, the BBC's Mark Lowen joins us live now from Jerusalem. |
| 1:55.7 | Mark, first of all, briefly on the subject of the Palestinian prisoners, |
| 1:59.4 | can you talk us through the reasons given for delaying the release of them? |
| 2:04.1 | And does this throw the whole ceasefire agreement into question now? |
... |
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