The BBC issued an apology on Wednesday after one of its anchors made a provocative statement that “Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”
The Israeli attack on Jenin and its refugee camp on Monday and Tuesday resulted in the death of 12 Palestinians, including five children, and the injury of more than 140 people, 30 of whom were seriously injured. The occupation forces also destroyed homes and infrastructure.
News anchor Anjana Gadgil made the remarks while speaking to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett about the country’s military action in Jenin.
In an interview on Tuesday evening, she said, “The Israeli military are calling this a ‘military operation’, but we now know that young people are being killed, four of them under 18.
“Is that really what the military set out to do? To kill people between the ages of 16 and 18?”
Bennett said, “Quite to the contrary. Actually, all 11 people dead there are militants. The fact that there are young terrorists who decide to hold arms is their responsibility.”
He added that the perpetrators of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis last year had been trained in Jenin. He added, “Jenin has become a hotbed of terrorism. All the Palestinians who were killed are terrorists in this case.”
The anchor went back to saying, “Terrorists, but children. The Israeli forces are happy to kill children?”
Taking to Twitter, Bennett shared a clip of the dialogue, and wrote, denouncing, “The BBC anchor dares to claim with me that Israeli army soldiers are happy to kill children.”
After the interview, UK pro-apartheid supporters and pro-Israel organizations launched a campaign against BBC for bias.
An official complaint was filed with the station. The BBC on Wednesday apologized for the “language” used by Gadgil.
Bennett tweeted about the British body’s apology saying, “Mission completed with an overwhelming victory: the British BBC issued a formal apology a few minutes ago for the disgusting interview. This is how you fight the propaganda system, we went on the campaign trail and used many forces in the world to demand an official apology. We do not remain silent about the honour of the State of Israel.”