Israel to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a "new front" had opened up on Israel's border with Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime. We hear from a former Israeli Prime Minister, who says the move is an unnecessary provocation.
Also on the programme: We get a sense of the devastation in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, where its feared hundreds of people have been killed by Cyclone Chido; and explore why America's ABC News agreed to settle its defamation case with Donald Trump.
(Picture: Israeli military vehicles ride through Syria close to the ceasefire line between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria Credit: REUTERS/Jamal Awad)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsAv. |
| 0:05.7 | From the BBC World Service, we're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:09.0 | I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:10.5 | And we're going to begin in Syria, or more specifically, the Golan Heights, a chunk of land that Israel cedes from Syria after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and subsequently annexed. |
| 0:22.2 | That occupation is considered illegal under international law. |
| 0:25.9 | It's currently home to about 20,000 Israeli settlers, as well as a similar number of Syrians, |
| 0:30.9 | mostly Druze Arabs. |
| 0:32.9 | Well, now the Israeli government has approved a plan to expand those settlements further. |
| 0:37.4 | The Israeli Prime Minister said the aim was to double the population. |
| 0:41.6 | Well, since the fall of the Assad regime last week, |
| 0:44.2 | Israeli forces have already moved further into Syria beyond the UN-monitored buffer zone. |
| 0:49.7 | The UN says that is a clear violation of Syria sovereignty. |
| 0:53.9 | They've also carried out hundreds of airstrikes on military targets linked to the old regime. |
| 0:59.3 | Here's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking a little earlier today. |
| 1:05.5 | We have no interest in confronting Syria. |
| 1:08.3 | We will determine Israel's policy towards Syria according to the emerging |
| 1:12.9 | reality on the ground. I remind you that for decades Syria was an active enemy state to Israel. |
| 1:20.0 | It attacked us again and again. It allowed others to attack us from its territory. It allowed |
| 1:25.5 | Iran to arm Hezbollah through its territory. However, I would |
| 1:29.8 | like to both clarify and warn, we are committed to preventing the re-arming of Hezbollah as well. |
| 1:36.3 | Well, let's speak to the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmit, who joins us on the line. Thanks very |
| 1:41.2 | much for being with us here on NewsHour. Do you support the expansion of |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.