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UN Commission of Inquiry has accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza using sniper rifles and quadcopters, while Israeli officials reject the findings as propaganda.
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00:07Hello and welcome, you are watching Statecraft with me Geeta Mohan.
00:10Now outrage is spreading across the world over two deeply troubling stories.
00:15A UN report has accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian children,
00:19while old controversial remarks by Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir have intensified scrutiny and anger.
00:26At the same time, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is facing growing unrest,
00:30with reports of food, fuel and medicine shortages amid a major anti-government protest movement.
00:37One story raises questions about accountability in war, the other about power, pressure and survival.
00:44All this and more, but first up, the headlines.
00:47Massive twin earthquakes jolt Venezuela with over 900 people injured
00:53and the count of deaths toll only increasing beyond 160.
00:58The 7.5 magnitude quake struck 39 seconds after a 7.2 magnitude foreshock.
01:04Leaders across the world have condoled the deaths and injuries and damage to property,
01:10including aid being sent from various Latin American countries.
01:14U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has already sent rescue teams to Venezuela
01:19and will deploy assets to the country's main airport.
01:23After a closed-door meeting where Trump faced criticism over Iran war from fellow Republicans
01:28and following a shouting match with Senator Bill Cassidy,
01:31Senate's Republican leaders scheduled a late-night vote to block a resolution
01:35calling for an end to hostilities with Iran.
01:38The Senate voted by 50 to 47, largely along party lines,
01:42to block a war powers resolution that had advanced on a procedural vote in May.
01:47U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected Russian claims that Washington had failed to honor
01:52an alleged understanding reached in Alaska on Ukraine.
01:55Russia has accused the United States of failing to follow through
01:58on what it described as an agreement or understanding reached in Alaska.
02:03In deadly twin earthquakes in a decade that jolted Venezuela,
02:08at least 160 people have been killed reportedly and close to 1,000 injured so far.
02:13The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter-scale earthquake,
02:20followed just one minute later by an even stronger 7.5-magnitude tremor,
02:27with both hitting near the coastal town of Morón, about 160 kilometers west of Caracas.
02:34Venezuela has declared a state of emergency and said at least 20 aftershocks were recorded
02:39after the devastating earthquakes, leading to the collapse of buildings in Caracas.
02:44The country's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, announced the closure of Maiketia International Airport,
02:51the country's main airport, after it sustained structural damage.
02:55Water supplies have been affected in several areas and the national emergency response system
02:59has been activated.
03:01Rescue workers are working relentlessly to recover bodies buried deep under the rubble.
03:07Leaders from Spain and across the world, across Latin America,
03:12offered condolences and assistance to Venezuela.
03:15Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Spain stood with the Venezuelan people
03:19and victims' families following the devastating quakes.
03:23Argentina's President Javier Mille expressed deepest solidarity
03:27and said Buenos Aires was ready to coordinate humanitarian aid with international organizations.
03:33President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, wrote,
03:36The USA stands ready, willing and able to help.
03:40I've instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly.
03:44We will be there for our new and great friends.
03:47Early reports are not good.
03:49Footage showed a baseball stadium shook violently during the earthquake,
03:53sending people scrambling out onto the pitch to take cover.
03:58Eyewitness accounts and videos showed shocked people gathering in the middle of the field
04:04as the whole stadium rattled, while smoke rose from a collapsed building just outside the stadium.
04:11There's outrage.
04:13Then there's the kind of outrage that makes diplomats worm.
04:16Governments cramble and headlines explode across the world.
04:20This story falls into the second category.
04:22A UN Commission of Enquiry has accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian children.
04:28Not accidentally.
04:30Not as collateral damage.
04:31Deliberately.
04:32That is a charge so serious it lands in the territory of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
04:39Israel rejects the findings completely, calling the report a sham and propaganda.
04:44But the controversy does not stop there, because right in the middle of this storm stands Israel's National Security Minister,
04:51Itamar Ben-Gavir, a man whose own words now sit under a giant spotlight.
04:56When a politician talks about bullets for women and children approaching a wall
05:00and praises the killing of a 12-year-old boy, people naturally start wondering,
05:05are these just the remarks of one politician or do they reveal something much bigger?
05:10The UN Commission's findings are blunt.
05:13According to the report, Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children
05:19in Gaza and the occupied territories.
05:22The Commission says it found reasonable grounds to conclude that these actions formed part of a strategy
05:28aimed at destroying the future of Palestinians by targeting their children.
05:33That is not a minor accusation.
05:35It is about as serious as accusations get.
05:38My colleague Anisha Masur had an exclusive conversation with Justice S. Muralithar,
05:44Chairperson of the UN Commission, which released this report, and this is what he had to say.
05:49If you could tell us a little bit, sir, about the report that has been filed,
05:52the report that has said that there is evidence that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted,
05:59killed and tortured by Israeli security forces.
06:03Can you tell us a little more about the report, sir?
06:05Yes.
06:06What the report establishes is that between 7th October 2023,
06:11we know the incident when Hamas took Israeli hostages
06:13and the wave of attacks on Gaza particularly intensified.
06:19So between 7th October 2023 and 7th October 2025, a period of two years,
06:25we find that more than 20,000 children in Gaza and some in West Bank and East Jerusalem
06:32have been killed, more than 44,000 being injured.
06:37Now, the killing and waving of children is so targeted that it happens in two ways.
06:42One is to use high-yield bombs, you know, which cover a large area,
06:48and you bomb that intensely populated area multiple times,
06:52knowing fully well that children with small bodies and very fragile physics are likely to be, you know, killed.
07:00The other way they do it is to use what are called quadcopters, drones and sniper rifles.
07:07The precision of these quadcopters is very high.
07:10They have fitted thermal imaging cameras, which tell the person who's sitting in a remote location
07:16what the size of the body is, and a child's body can easily be identified.
07:22We have soldiers who have spoken on camera, Israeli soldiers,
07:26saying that it was like a game for them, sitting wherever in a remote location.
07:31They could just keep killing children.
07:33So, the targeting is so precise that a 10-day-old baby breastfeeding on his mother
07:42had a bullet shot, a gunshot to his skull, and he's been paralyzed for life.
07:50Likewise, a girl has been targeted, a baby girl.
07:54We find that a large number of children come in with single-shot wounds to their brains and to their
08:01necks
08:01for maximum damage.
08:04Many children have been brought in who have lost an entire family.
08:09We spoke to three doctors during oral hearings that this commission held,
08:13And these doctors told us they had to devise a category called
08:18Wounded Child with No Surviving Family, WCNSF.
08:23And she said in the span of just two months,
08:27thousands of such babies were brought to the hospitals.
08:30Now, Israel Defense Forces do not stop at this.
08:34They even target orphanages.
08:36They destroy the orphanages.
08:3897% of all the schools in Gaza have been completely destroyed.
08:45So, there is no formal education.
08:47Many children have missed formal education for more than three years now.
08:52Universities have been targeted.
08:54More than 27 of 32 universities have been completely destroyed.
08:58So, we are talking of healthcare facilities getting destroyed,
09:02educational facilities getting destroyed,
09:04and the evacuation orders are given at such short notice
09:07that many of the children with their families have had to
09:11rush out of their houses with whatever little belongings.
09:15And they are literally on the streets.
09:18So, some of these doctors told us how there is no drinking water,
09:21there is no electricity,
09:22children are playing in the sewage,
09:25700 people share a single toilet.
09:28Imagine a child growing up in this kind of an environment.
09:30And the Israeli Defense Forces are also tramiting adolescent boys.
09:36Boys between the ages of 10 and 15 are being labelled as terrorists
09:40and are being simply shot.
09:43And right into this already explosive outrage walks Itamar Ben-Gavir.
09:48Who is he in this story?
09:50Not some random commentator on social media.
09:52He is Israel's National Security Minister,
09:55which means people listen when he speaks.
09:58And that is exactly why his remarks sparked global outrage.
10:02Back in 2024, during a cabinet clash over rules of engagement,
10:07Ben-Gavir reportedly declared that women and children approaching a wall
10:11could not be allowed near it
10:12and that anyone approaching to harm security
10:16should receive a bullet in the head.
10:18Think about how that sounds outside Israel.
10:21A senior government minister discussing women and children
10:23and bullets in the same sentence.
10:26The backlash was immediate.
10:28Human rights groups and legal experts argue that rhetoric like this
10:31mirrors the behaviour described in the UN report.
10:34Their argument is simple.
10:36If leaders openly speak this way,
10:38critics say it becomes harder to dismiss allegations
10:41that excessive force forms part of a broader pattern.
10:44Then came the case of Rami Hamdan Al-Halhuli,
10:48a 12-year-old Palestinian boy.
10:51After he was killed, Ben-Gavir publicly praised the officer involved.
10:55His words were clear.
10:56He saluted the officer and described the killing
10:59as an example of how terrorists should be handled
11:02with determination and precision.
11:05That statement triggered another wave of criticism.
11:09Why?
11:10Because critics saw a government minister publicly celebrating the killing of a child.
11:15Supporters may argue Ben-Gavir viewed the incident through a security lens.
11:19Critics saw something entirely different.
11:22And that difference matters.
11:23Because this is not just about one tragic death.
11:26It is about what that reaction reveals.
11:29The report does not stop at allegations of children dying during a war.
11:33It goes much further.
11:35The commission says it found reasonable grounds to conclude
11:38that Palestinian children were deliberately targeted by Israeli security forces.
11:42According to the report,
11:44children were shot by snipers and drones,
11:47killed in strikes on residential buildings,
11:49schools and displacement camps and continued to suffer even after a ceasefire came into effect.
11:56The commission argues that this was not a collection of isolated incidents.
12:00It says the pattern was systematic.
12:03In fact, the report makes one of its most serious claims right here.
12:07The commission says these actions formed part of a deliberate strategy aimed at destroying the future of Palestinians
12:13by targeting their children.
12:15And the allegations do not end with deaths.
12:18The report describes severe physical injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, repeated displacement, starvation and the collapse of health care and education.
12:28It also alleges that Palestinian children were arrested, tortured, mistreated in detention facilities and subjected to sexual violence.
12:38The commission further accuses Israel of dismantling children's access to life-saving health care
12:44by targeting neonatal and maternity centers,
12:47while restrictions on aid allegedly contributed to hunger and malnutrition among children.
12:53Schools, orphanages and educational facilities also feature prominently in the report.
12:58The commission argues that destroying these institutions does more than damage buildings.
13:04It damages a society's future.
13:07Its conclusion is stark.
13:09The report says that by targeting children,
13:11Israel is attacking the capacity of Palestinian people to sustain themselves and determine their future.
13:18That is why this story has sparked such a massive international reaction.
13:23If governments, international organizations and human rights bodies believe children deserve protection in war,
13:30then those principles cannot apply only when it is convenient.
13:33The allegations are on the table.
13:35The statements are on record.
13:37The world has heard them.
13:39Now comes the moment that matters most.
13:42Accountability or excuses.
13:45Action or silence.
13:46Because if the deliberate targeting of children does not trigger outrage, scrutiny and consequences,
13:52then the promise of protecting children in conflict means absolutely nothing.
13:57Everybody talks about the Great India-US Partnership,
14:00but can New Delhi really trust Washington?
14:03I ask you this because the F414 engine meant essential to power Tejas MK2
14:09has reportedly seen its price surge from around 70 to 80 crore rupees to over 200 crores.
14:16So is U.S. intentionally raising fighter engine costs to slow India's jet program?
14:20Here's a report by Rudrushish Kanjilal.
14:32India's most ambitious fighter jet program may have just encountered a major obstacle.
14:37What was once hailed as a landmark defense partnership between India and the United States
14:42is now facing serious questions over cost, timelines and feasibility.
14:47At the centre of the storm is the General Electric F414 fighter jet engine.
14:53The same engine chosen to power India's Tejas MK2 fighter
14:57and the first version of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft or AMCA.
15:02According to reports, negotiations with American defense giant General Electric
15:07have run into turbulence after costs reportedly shot up dramatically during commercial discussions.
15:16When the project was first conceptualized, the F414 engine was expected to cost around 70 to 80 crore rupees per
15:24unit.
15:25Now, reports say the price has surged beyond 200 crore rupees per engine.
15:31That is more than a two-fold increase and it comes at a crucial stage for India's fifth-generation fighter
15:37ambitions.
15:38The AMCA is not just another aircraft project.
15:42It is India's answer to advanced stealth fighters being developed and fielded by major military powers around the world.
15:49The twin-engine fighter is expected to give the Indian Air Force a homegrown stealth combat platform
15:55capable of operating in highly contested battle environments.
15:59The current dispute is particularly significant because of the expectations surrounding the India-US engine partnership.
16:06During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington in 2023,
16:12GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signed a deal to manufacture F414 engines in India.
16:19The agreement later received approval from the US Congress.
16:23At the time, it was celebrated as a breakthrough in defense cooperation.
16:27GE promised technology transfer covering nearly 80% of the manufacturing know-how required for engine production.
16:35HAL projected the partnership as a stepping stone towards future indigenous engine development.
16:41The arrangement was also expected to support local manufacturing for the Tejas MK2 program.
16:47But translating political announcements into commercial agreements has proven more difficult than expected.
16:53The engine price is only one part of the challenge.
16:56Sources indicate that negotiations are also focused on localization commitments, production arrangements, support packages, and technology transfer details.
17:06Then comes another expensive demand.
17:09GE has reportedly proposed setting up dedicated F1-4 assembly and manufacturing line in India.
17:15Faced with growing uncertainty, India is now examining alternatives.
17:21Francis Safran and Britain's Rolls-Royce have both expressed interest in partnering with India on advanced fighter engine technologies.
17:29But officials caution against assuming a quick switch.
17:32Changing engines at this stage is not as simple as replacing a component.
17:37The engine influences aircraft design, testing certification, and overall performance.
17:43For now, the AMCA airframe design is largely frozen.
17:48But one critical question remains unanswered.
17:50Can India and General Electric bridge the widening gap between strategic ambitions and commercial reality?
17:57Because the outcome of these negotiations may determine not just the future of a single-engine deal.
18:03It could shape the timeline, cost, and trajectory of India's most ambitious combat aircraft program for decades to come.
18:12With Rishish Kanjalal, Bureau Report, India Today Global.
18:17Is Pakistan tightening a quiet blockade on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to crush a swelling wave of protests?
18:24Or is a political shutdown spiraling into a full-blown humanitarian crisis
18:29where food, fuel, and medicines are slipping out of reach for ordinary civilians?
18:35What is unfolding across the region is no longer just a protest movement.
18:39It is a breakdown of daily life itself.
18:42And the accusations now being levelled at Islamabad are explosive.
18:47The crisis in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, or POK, has been building for weeks.
18:51At the centre of it is a massive anti-government uprising led by the Joint Awami Action Committee, or JAAC.
18:59The protests began over long-standing political grievances,
19:02especially the dispute over 12 legislative seats reserved for refugees from India's Kashmir.
19:09Local groups accuse Islamabad of using these seats to influence elections and install compliant governments in the region.
19:17In response to the protests, Pakistan designated the JAAC a terrorist organisation and launched a crackdown on its supporters.
19:26But the movement has now escalated far beyond constitutional demands.
19:30The JAAC has enforced shutdowns across towns and cities, transport networks have been paralysed, markets closed, businesses forced to shut.
19:40In response, Pakistani authorities have declared the group a terrorist organisation and launched a crackdown on its supporters.
19:47Clashes linked to the unrest have already left at least 58 people dead, according to reported figures.
19:53But beyond the political confrontation, a far more urgent crisis is spreading.
19:58A crisis measured not in speeches or slogans, but in empty pharmacies, closed markets and fuel stations running dry.
20:07Because residents now say something else is happening.
20:10They say access to basic survival supplies is being choked.
20:14Across Mozafrabad, Poonch, Raulcourt, Bagh and the remote Neelam Valley, shortages of food, fuel and medicines are being reported on
20:23a growing scale.
20:25In the regional capital, Mozafrabad, residents describe a daily struggle to find essentials.
20:31Many are unable to find medicine anywhere, with most pharmacies closed.
20:35The fuel crisis has added another layer of pressure.
20:38Reports from Dawn indicate petrol pumps in Poonch and Mozafrabad have remained closed.
20:44Motorists reportedly turning to black market fuel just to keep vehicles running, it is said.
20:50The condition is so dire that people have to deposit money for flour two weeks in advance, but still receive
20:57nothing.
20:58Prices of remaining food items have also surged sharply.
21:02But residents say the crisis is not only the result of shutdown protests.
21:06They allege something more deliberate.
21:08That vehicles carrying essential goods are being stopped before they can even reach Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
21:15And if true, it would turn a protest zone into a sealed humanitarian pressure point.
21:20Reports suggest that trucks carrying flour, rice, lentils, vegetables, medicines and fuel are being held at checkpoints near Azad Pattan
21:28and Pagwari.
21:29Drivers say they have been stranded for days with perishable goods now being spoiled on the roadside.
21:36Some residents who travelled into Pakistan, including Rawalpindi and other cities, to buy essentials say they are being stopped on
21:44the way back into POK.
21:46Truck drivers have also alleged that Punjab police personnel are blocking entry routes into POK, leaving long queues of stranded
21:53vehicles.
21:53Social media videos appear to show convoys of trucks stuck along highways awaiting clearance.
21:59The POK chapter of Pakistan Tehri Ke Ansaf, or PTI, has accused authorities of deliberately blocking essential supplies and described
22:07it as the worst example of a raunic oppression.
22:11Pakistan, however, denies imposing any blockade.
22:14Officials in multiple districts insist that no vehicles carrying essential goods have been stopped and that supply lines remain open.
22:23But not all accounts align with that position.
22:26Locals say Islamabad has considered or adopted measures aimed at disrupting supply flows to pressure the JAAC-led protests in
22:34Rawalp court.
22:35The strategy reportedly focuses on weakening the protest movement by restricting access to food and essential goods through various routes.
22:43Whether those measures are narrowly targeted at protesters or are affecting wider civilian population remains unclear, but the impact on
22:51the ground appears increasingly visible.
22:54Meanwhile, the JAAC movement continues to grow.
22:58Large-scale sit-ins, including one at Rawalp court's Idhaka ground, have drawn tens of thousands of participants.
23:05Reports suggest over 70,000 people have joined encampments in recent weeks.
23:10And now, the group is threatening a mass march of over 100,000 people towards Muzaffrabad, the administrative center of
23:19Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
23:20What began as a political protest over representation has now widened into a confrontation where economic pressure, humanitarian distress and
23:30state security measures are colliding at once.
23:33And in the middle of it sits a population caught between shutdowns on one side and alleged restrictions on essential
23:40supplies on the other.
23:42As Islamabad maintains its denial of any blockade, the ground reality described by residents, transporters and opposition voices tells a
23:51more complex story.
23:52Some blame the JAAC shutdowns for paralyzing markets and supply chains.
23:57Others point to state actions at checkpoints that may be intensifying shortages.
24:03And both dynamics appear to be reinforcing each other.
24:06The result is a region where food, medicine and fuel are becoming increasingly difficult to access and where normal life
24:14has been pushed to the edge of collapse.
24:17The question now is not only whether Pakistan is facing an escalating uprising in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,
24:23but how its response is shaping a crisis unfolding in a region that is rightfully India's.
24:29No matter how much Pakistan tries to frame it as an internal conflict, it can't hide the fact that POK
24:35is a territory that they have unlawfully occupied.
24:38And now what is emerging is no longer just political unrest.
24:41It is a deepening humanitarian strain, raising questions over how long essential supplies can hold amid prolonged shutdowns and whether
24:50the situation risks spilling further out of control.
24:54That's all in this edition of Statecraft, but before we go, the Dubai jeweler has transformed a Lego World Cup
25:01trophy assembled by his son into a diamond-studded piece.
25:04Worth nearly 300,000 dirhams or $81,688, Hemant Karam Chandani added 900 pieces of diamonds set on 18-karat
25:15gold on the Lego trophy in a project he said took him 35 days to complete.
25:21Take a look, goodbye and take care.
25:51Take care.
25:54Take care.
25:55Take care.
25:59Take care.
26:04Take care.
26:04Take care.
26:04Take care.
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