ISRAEL'S MILITARY OPERATIONS IN WEST BANK

Israeli tanks are being seen in the actual cities themselves and in the West Bank for the first time in years. This is something new because it's been confirmed now from an Israeli military source that this is the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank since 2002. When you look at just the full number of soldiers, hundreds of Israeli soldiers, and airstrikes from drones, we know of at least ten airstrikes that were being carried out in Jenin. The bulldozers that are tearing up streets on this, on the streets of Jenin now are being done to try and root out IEDs that militants place underneath the surface level of the street. But obviously, this affects the civilians who are living there as well. And we are actually seeing Israeli tanks outside of the city limits on the outskirts. These are not scenes that we are used to seeing here, at least not since the days of the second intifada. And, Paula, this is ongoing as we speak. We are still getting reports of firefights with militants and a possible further airstrike. This has now been going on for or for definitely more than 12 hours. Think we're approaching 16 hours of this operation.

Basically, a large contingent of Israeli armoured vehicles have gotten into the refugee camp. They've basically ploughed many of the streets. They destroyed the water network, cut off electricity. So the residents now have no electricity, no water and nowhere to go. And many of the buildings have been taken over by Israeli soldiers to be used as sniper positions. So those who have had the misfortune of Israeli soldiers taking over their home are now trapped in those homes. That is being used by Israeli soldiers to shoot at Palestinian activists. And I want to put this in perspective. If you allow me for Palestinians, these horrible scenes and these S.O.S. calls from paramedics and from journalists and from residents of the refugee camp are part of a very big and very violent picture of daily life under Israeli occupation. The Palestinians are ruled against their will by the Israelis. And in order to maintain that rule, which is violent in its nature, Israel conducts these campaigns against Palestinian resistance, which exists because the occupation exists. As you know, your reporter was reporting out of Ukraine a few moments ago and was talking about efforts to combat occupation there. It's pretty much the same when it comes to Palestinian. I do, fortunately, the international reaction is very different. I want our reporting to say that the United States Biden administration is watching the situation closely, but it continues to hold the line saying that, look, Israel is entitled to safeguard its security. I also want to get to those calls from Hamas and Islamic Jihad to, in their words, strike Israel by all available means to stop the massacre. I mean, how much of a tipping point are we at here in terms of an escalation, especially, you know, all available means basically as a call to action for more violence, is it not? Well, again, I want to just bring in the Palestinian perspective here.

Being ruled against your will by a foreign military is violent and it's violent every day, even when it doesn't make the news. The fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are now calling for reaction against the invasion of the refugee camp is predictable. There is nothing surprising about that. Just as there was nothing surprising about the fact that Palestinians don't want to be ruled by foreigners who use unnecessary force, who use extreme force against civilians. Israel has killed more Palestinians this year so far than it did the year before, which was already the most violent in the past 16 or 17 years. It has allowed for settlement expansion that has exceeded the total number of settlement units built last year, only in the past six months. This government which Israelis are protesting against is the most violent, most extreme, most anti-Palestinian that we've seen since Israel's establishment, perhaps at its core. And its declared agenda is not just to maintain control over the West Bank, to annex that West Bank and consider it part of Israel, but also to crush the very notion of Palestinian freedom and statehood so that the Palestinians are not only under attack, they feel that their very existence is under attack. So we will continue to follow the breaking news on this story. I want to update us that from 50 it's now gone to at least 80 wounded. That's the information we're getting. We thank you for your insights on this. As I say, we continue to follow the breaking news out of Israel. Appreciate it.