Hello and welcome to News Hour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service

studios in Central London. I'm Tim Franks and the big story today centers on a conflict involving Israel. It's not to the

south in Gaza, it's not to the north with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah,

is to the east, the area of occupied territory known as the West Bank, where most Palestinians live,

and where Israel has launched its biggest military operation for nearly 20 years.

At least nine people are reported to have been killed for Palestinian cities

have been targeted at the same time. We'll hear from Israeli and Palestinian

politicians through the program and from some experienced voices who say this feels like something different in the West Bank.

First, we have this report from the BBC's Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson, who spent the day in Janine. I'm just walking up the main street in Janine towards the government hospital.

It is eerily quiet.

There's nobody about.

The streets are completely deserted.

It's just a lone whale of an ambulance every now and then heading away from the hospital.

And the sweet sickly smell of mangoes left out untended under the hot sun.

As an ambulance just heading back into the hospital now past the line of reporters and beyond it the Israeli

military jeeps. Hundreds of troops backed by armored bulldozers arrived overnight until Karam, Nablus, Tubas, Janine,

their refugee camps home to armed Palestinian groups and unarmed civilians.

Masoud Naja said he was injured in Tubais

when he opened the door to his house

after some young men nearby asked for water. We felt like something came down on us from the sky and there

was an explosion. I was unaware of what was going on. When I put my hand on my chest, it was all sharpening

and blood. At least nine Palestinians have been killed. Hamas says six of them were its fighters.

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