Global News Podcast - BBC investigates deadliest single Israeli attack in recent conflict with Hezbollah

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

A BBC investigation into an Israeli attack in Lebanon finds evidence that almost all those killed were civilians. Also: a court in Pakistan orders a popular social media personality to publish videos on animal rights.

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I'm Valerie Sanderson and at 1400 Hours GMT on Friday 24th January these are our main stories. A BBC investigation into the deadliest single Israeli attack in its recent conflict with Hezbollah finds evidence that almost all the 73 people killed were Lebanese civilians. The exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya says the country's presidential election due this weekend is a sham. A court in Pakistan orders a popular social media personality to publish a video every month on animal rights. Also in this podcast, the actor Hugh Grant says settlements made to victims like Prince Harry in the phone hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's newspapers don't end there.

In light of these findings we think that the police should launch a new criminal investigation into this. The people who were giving the orders are still there and they're still effectively running this country. We start in Lebanon where a ceasefire has been underway for two months after more than a year of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. In the weeks before the ceasefire, Israel had intensified its bombing campaign against Hezbollah targets. The single deadliest attack in nearly two decades took place on the 29th of September when an Israeli airstrike destroyed an apartment block in the quiet village of Eyn El Delb, killing 73 people.

Israel says the building was a terrorist command centre and they were targeting a senior Hezbollah leader. But a BBC Eye investigation has found that most of the victims were in fact civilians, many of them children. Ashraf lost his mother and sister in the apartment block. For 20 years my dad has been paying for this flat, now gone. Nothing we find here is worth the people we lost. The people who died are the most precious.

Our senior international investigations correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi told me what they'd found out. We went to Ayn Ad-Delb. It's in southern Lebanon, it's a mainly Christian village and it's a six story building that was hit by multiple Israeli missiles. It killed 73 people, most of the people killed in that building were civilians based on our investigation. The IDF say it was a Hezbollah command centre, that they were targeting the head of the Hezbollah Sidon compound, but they didn't provide us with any evidence and our investigation showed

that the majority of those in the building were in fact civilians. But the Israelis were insisting that the overwhelming majority of those killed were, they called them terror operatives, didn't they? There is no doubt that Hezbollah is a threat to Israel. It's launched thousands of rockets into Israeli territory. But in this particular incident, you know, we went through health records, we went through social media, we spoke to eyewitnesses and we were able to identify 68 of the people that were killed, 68 out of the 73. Now six of those did have some links to Hezbollah, although we found no evidence that they were senior members or commanders. But the rest,

you know, the 62 people were all innocent civilians, 24 of them women and 23 of them children. So tell us about these people. So we met a couple of them, you know, one that really struck me was this woman called Batool. She lost her daughter and her husband in that attack. And I think what struck me about her was how stoic and resilient she was in this interview. We also met with a young man called Ashraf who lost his sister, Julia, and his mother in the attack. And their story was quite striking because his sister Julia was in Beirut a few days before the attack. And she'd moved home because she thought that this building

was in an area that was a lot safer than the capital Beirut. And just before she moved back, she sent her brother a voice note detailing this attack, this nightmare where her and her mother would be killed. Last night, I dreamt our house was bombed multiple times. Only mum and I were at home. I woke up startled. And that's exactly what ended up playing out. It's almost like she preempted it.

I mean, we met multiple victims from this attack. And it goes without saying, but the impact that something like this has on an entire community is quite shocking. But like I said, throughout our investigation, we tried to figure out what was it that happened if something had gone wrong, if there was in fact a commander in that building. And in this instance, in this building, we couldn't find any evidence to back

that up. Nowar Amagafi. Meanwhile, 300 kilometres to the south in the occupied West Bank, hundreds of residents are fleeing the city of Jenin in the face of continuing Israeli army operations. Jenin's Palestinian governor says the Israeli military has ordered people to evacuate the refugee camp in Jenin, although Israel disputes this. Asil Badun is the spokesperson for medical aid for Palestinians in the West Bank. We have mud obstacles around hospitals which are making it really hard for ambulances to go into hospitals and we don't know exactly the number of people injured. We're talking about not hundreds, thousands of people forcibly leaving Jenin and the city as well. So the

situation is really dim. People are anxious, terrified. Also the Israeli army have cut off water, electricity on the refugee camp and on the hospital. So this morning I was also talking to a doctor saying that they're running only on fuel generator. They don't know how long it will last. The tension in Jenin comes against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, with Hamas expected to provide the names of four more hostages to be released tomorrow as part of the agreement that halted the violence there. Our correspondent in Jerusalem, Yulia Nel, told me more about the situation in Janine.

BBC colleagues in Janine have been describing how thousands of people have been fleeing from the camp in particular, with Israeli forces inspecting those leaving through approved exit points. Many people have been seen arrested, there's video clips being shared of them being led away in white jumpsuits. People have also shared recordings with us, played out they say from Israeli drones telling them to leave the refugee camp and the Israeli military at the same time has been denying that there are forced evacuations

of civilians. And if you listen to both Palestinian and Israeli media, there's a lot of speculation about political motivations from the Israeli side behind this operation, with questions being asked about whether this could be an attempt to derail the Gaza ceasefire deal. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are both very active in Jenin's refugee camp and they've been calling for more attacks on Israeli forces in the West Bank in response to the raid and of course we

know historically that when you have unrest when you have trouble in one Palestinian area that often spills over into another. Well we are just a week into that ceasefire that you've been talking about and we understand hostage names four more are set to be announced by Hamas. What do we know about that? Yes this is all part of the hostage deal we're going to have one of the regional mediators Qatar. It's supposed to relay to Israel the names of the four female hostages who are scheduled to be released on Saturday. It's expected to be one of the remaining women civilians and these some Israeli

surveillance soldiers as well, with about 180 Palestinian prisoners being released from jail in exchange, including this time more convicted of serious offences against Israelis. And Israel is also due to receive a list of all the living hostages who will be freed as part of this initial six-week stage of the ceasefire. There are 30 left due to be released and lots of details are still unclear about exactly the mechanism but it's supposed to lead to a further Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza so the hundreds of

thousands displaced to the south there can start returning to the north. So expect in the coming days some very dramatic scenes. Yolande Nel in Jerusalem. This weekend Belarus goes to the polls. Five names will feature on the ballot but it's widely expected that Alexander Lukashenko, who's ruled the country for three decades and is firmly backed by Vladimir Putin, will be re-elected. The exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is calling the election a scam that's been carefully orchestrated by the government to hold onto power.

Our Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford reports. When Belarusians go to vote on Sunday, Alexander Lukashenko has no intention of losing control or of allowing mass protests to erupt again like in 2020. All the key opposition figures from those days are now either in prison or in forced exile. And those opposition supporters still in Belarus have been scared into silence. That's why their leader in exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has told the BBC she's not calling on people in the country to protest. But she does want Western allies to reject the results of Sunday's vote and to step

up the sanctions and the pressure on Lukashenko. It's sham, but not elections. Lukashenko is not holding elections. He's organizing military-style operation to legitimize his illegal rule. Svetlana Tukhanovskaya argues that supporting the Belarusian opposition is about more than defending democracy, because Alexander Lukashenko is a key ally of Vladimir Putin, helping him fight his war on Ukraine. Lukashenko allows Putin to deploy nuclear weapon, to deploy his army through his policy, pro-Russian policy, you know, he's becoming threat to the West. He's part of this dictator's chain. In 2020, all of a sudden,

huge crowds of Belarusians believe they could change their country. Their desire has gone nowhere. But inside Belarus, instead of hope, activists now talk of their fear and their depression. Sarah Rainsford, a court in Pakistan has ordered a popular social media personality to publish a video every month on animal rights as a punishment for unlawfully keeping a pet lion cub. Rajab Bhatt is one of the most followed social media influencers in the country. Asaf-Eisir regional editor and Barasan Ethadajian has more. Wedding gift to Rajab Bhatt from your... Surrounded by guests, Rajab Bhatt looks happy in this video for his wedding gift last month,

a cute looking lion cub. Soon, however, the happy moment ended in trouble and landed him behind bars. He was arrested in Lahore after a raid conducted jointly by the Punjab Wildlife Department and police on charges of illegal possession of wildlife. Mr. Butt is a famous social media influencer in Pakistan with millions of followers on TikTok and YouTube and other platforms for his videos on lifestyle, travels and family adventures. He accepted his mistake in the court.

Instead of a stiffer punishment, the judge ordered Mr. Bhatt to perform a year-long community service by uploading the five-minute videos on animal protection and animal rights to educate people. The court has also ordered the Wild Life Department to provide him with enough material to create his content. The Lion Cub has now been moved to Lahore Safari Zoo and has been named Butty. Wildlife officials have warned that wild animals cannot be domesticated and they pose dangers to humans and keeping them also constitutes cruelty to animals. And Barisan Etharachan, a reminder if there's anything you'd like to know about Donald Trump's first week in

power, now is your chance. We're planning to do a special question and answers edition of the podcast and we need your help. Please send in your questions to globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. Even better if you can record it as a religious life. And today he's been living in a silent monastery for 45 years. Hear his story. Listen now by searching for the documentary

wherever you get your BBC podcasts. A judge in Kenya has warned he'll imprison the country's police chief for contempt of court on Monday if the officer fails for a third time to show up and account for a recent string of alleged abductions. The disappearance of dozens of young government critics since anti-tax protests last year has provoked a public backlash, although the police have denied any involvement. Our AFCA correspondent Barbara Plattusher reports. At the height of Kenya's Gen Z protests, police struck hard at demonstrators angered by tax

hikes and corruption. Dozens were arrested but many disappeared. This is the place where the abduction happened. We are standing at the end of the alleyway down which your house is located, right where the road, where it joins the road. Yes, yes, this is the exact point where we abducted. They were surveilling our mobile phones, they were tracking us down. Jamil Longton's brother Aslam was one of the protest organizers. He'd been warned to stop. Both were pulled into a car outside their home, hooded and handcuffed.

After that, there was no sign of them for 32 days. Aslam tells me he was regularly beaten, his tormentor demanding to know who was funding the protests. They were held in small dark cells they said in an unknown location. Who abducted you? Do you know who abducted you? They were heavily armed. They did the abduction in plain daylight so you see the security agents had they knew what was going on. They had the tracking devices that could track down our mobile phones. I don't know if anybody is capable of doing that in this country apart from the security

agencies. Others like them were captured on camera. This is a victim filmed with a phone, screaming as he tries to fight off abductors. More than 80 government critics have been reported missing so far, about a third still unaccounted for. I have personally survived as my son was abducted and disappeared and I was not sure whether he was alive or dead. A damning indictment from this government minister, Justin Muturi. He says his son was picked up by the National Intelligence Service

and only released after Mr. Muturi made a direct appeal to the president, William Ruto. That is a matter of investigation because that is his side of the story, right? But what is the counter-story of the National Intelligence Service? Kenya has a history of state-sponsored abductions, especially in the 1980s and 90s under the authoritarian leader Daniel Arap Moi. state-sponsored abductions, especially in the 1980s and 90s, under the authoritarian leader Daniel Arap Moi. This kid being arrested and locked away is an exact replica of what Moi used to do. Getobu Imenyara is a lawyer and democracy activist. He was arrested and beaten by Moi's

regime. He has no doubt he's seeing the so-called Moi Playbook in action now. But he says times have changed. Internal pressure is so much now the government can no longer ignore the voices of its own citizens. And I think that that's a main main difference between this period and that time when democratic institutions were non-existent. The Inspector General of Police misses on that third hearing date. I will cite convict and sentence on the spot. There is more accountability now. This judge has summoned the police chief to court three times, but he hasn't shown up yet.

He's denied involvement, but no one else has been charged, let alone convicted. President Ruto has promised to stop the abductions, forced to respond to public outrage and to concern from Western allies. He can rally a crowd of supporters, but many Kenyans are waiting to see whether the country has really moved on from its dark past. That report from Barbara Plattosher. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there's been intense fighting in recent months between M23 rebels backed by Rwanda and Congolese government forces.

Reports say the rebels are nearing the regional capital of Goma in the east of the country. Officials say more than 200 people have been killed in South Kivu province to the south of Goma after the M23 seized several mining towns. The Red Cross has described the numbers of injured as overwhelming. Emmanuel Lampert is from Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders and is based in the capital, Kinshasa. Calais territory and Minova General Hospital were taken by the rebel army last week. Through the chaotic retreat of the Republic army, many of the patients fled the hospital. We saw the necessity also to retrieve

part of our medical colleagues present. Sake town, more than 20 kilometres west of Goma, was set taken. The whole day of yesterday, the conflict has been closing in to Goma. Our Africa regional editor, Richard Kagoi, told me how far the rebels had advanced. They have taken the town of Sake and as Emmanuel just pointed out it's 27 kilometres to Goma and what we're hearing is that the M23 rebels have encircled the entire town of Goma. So it's just quite unpredictable the moment to tell how events are panning out, because even mobile internet connectivity has been cut.

We're waiting for a meeting that has been chaired by President Shisikedi in Kinshasa to discuss about the prevailing security situation to get an update on what has happened. But then we're hearing from M23 claiming that they have managed to take control of the town but the Congolese forces and allied supporters have been trying to push the advance of the M23. And Goma, it's already been a refuge for many people who've escaped from fighting elsewhere, isn't it? Absolutely and lots of people, you know, thousands have been pouring into Goma because already it was hosting hundreds of internally displaced people. But with the recent offensive

we are seeing lots of people heading to Goma seeking refuge. In fact, from the latest update I see that lots of people now are actually sleeping in the open because the facilities there are really overwhelmed. And remind us what this conflict is all about. The M23 rebels have been claiming that the government in Kinshasa has been persecuting and discriminating a particular ethnic population referred to as the Tutsis. And the Tutsis have been found across the border in Rwanda as well. And so what they've been saying is that they've been trying to defend themselves and that they have been found across the border in Rwanda as well. And so what they've been saying is that they've been trying

to defend themselves and that they have been accusing the government of reneging on promises that they made slightly over a decade ago when they had a fragile peace agreement. And so they've been accusing Congolese forces of attacking their positions in the vast eastern Congo and that they've been doing that specifically to defend themselves. But the Congolese government calls them a terrorist organisation so they can never

negotiate with them. Richard Kagoi. Rupert Murdoch's media company NGN or News Group Newspapers is now estimated to have spent upwards of 1.25 billion dollars in damages to those who claim their phones were hacked and their privacy invaded by two of their tabloid newspapers, The News of the World and The Sun. Among those targeted, actresses like Sienna Miller, singers like the Spice Girls Mel B, sportsmen and UK politicians. Another notable victim of course was Prince Harry who was awarded substantial damages on Wednesday after NGN apologized for serious intrusion

and admitted incidents of unlawful activity. Now another victim, the actor Hugh Grant, is pushing for further accountability. Stephanie Prentice told me more. The actor Hugh Grant, who our listeners probably know from classics like Love Actually, For Weddings and a Funeral or even Paddington too. He claimed that newsgroup journalists had used private investigators to tap his phone to get stories about him, that they'd deleted evidence as part of a cover-up and even at one point that they burgled his house. And Prince Harry made similar claims of extensive intrusion in that case we saw play out this week. So like Prince Harry Hugh Grant did settle his case, taking

what he actually called an enormous sum of money last April, and he's been very clear that he settled purely due to a technicality that meant he could have had to pay $12 million of legal fees, even if he won. Now he continues to campaign as a board member of a group called Hacked Off. That wants a free and accountable press and was actually formed as a response to those phone hacking scandals in the UK. So is this an end to it? Well in 2012 there was an inquiry, the Levison inquiry, which looked at ethics and conduct in the British press. In short, it primarily ended up essentially pushing for self-regulation

of the print press at the time. Victims said that wasn't enough. And we actually spoke to Hugh Grant earlier. He said the botters of giant media companies are able to, in his words, game the system. In light of these findings, we think that the police should launch a new criminal investigation into this. And that was, as I say, the aim of Prince Harry's case as I understand it and certainly was my original aim. The people who were giving the orders are still there and they're still effectively running this country.

So strong words from him there. He is pushing for a new criminal investigation. It is important to note there have been multiple criminal investigations and trials and settlements. That idea of a Leveson 2 of sorts in terms of inquiries, it has already been shot down by Lisa Nandy. She's the Culture Secretary here who said it wouldn't be fit for purpose and that's because a lot of people now consume their news online. That original Leveson inquiry was back in 2012. But what Hugh Grant and those campaigning alongside him and that includes a UK MP who was targeted are doing is they're sending what they describe as a dossier and that will go

to the police heads in the UK and that will essentially demand more action. It will be full of more detail of what they say happened. So as we heard there, Hugh Grant making it very, very clear, even though he settled, he will not be silenced. Stephanie Prentice. And that's it from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it,

send us an email. The address is globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at Global News Pod. This edition was mixed by Joe McCartney. The producer was Terry Egan. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye bye.. hear his story. Listen now by searching for the documentary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.