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[[In the wake of criticism over its recent raid on the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp, Israel is showcasing its urban warfare training program which teaches soldiers how to avoid collateral damage at part of an army base built to look like a Palestinian city. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from the Tze'elim base near the Gaza Strip.]]
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script ISRAEL URBAN WARFARE TRAINING
HEADLINE: Israeli Soldiers Learn Urban Warfare in ‘Little Gaza’
TEASER: In the wake of criticism over its raid on the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp, Israel shows how it is teaching soldiers to avoid collateral damage at part of an army base built to look like a Palestinian city
PUBLISHED: 07/17/2023 at 5:23 pm
BYLINE: Linda Gradstein
DATELINE: Tze’elim Army Base, Israel VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricki Rosen
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, pcd
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA, AFP
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X__ RADIO _ __
TRT: 2:20 VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES: Web desk, please post camera credit for Ricki Rosen))
((INTRO))
[[In the wake of criticism over its recent raid on the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp, Israel is showcasing its urban warfare training program which teaches soldiers how to avoid collateral damage at part of an army base built to look like a Palestinian city. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from the Tze'elim base near the Gaza Strip.]]
((VIDEO: SCENES OF LITTLE GAZA AT TZE’ELIM ARMY BASE, VOA))
((NARRATOR))
The soldiers call it Little Gaza, and if you didn’t know where you were, the nationalist graffiti, mosque minarets, and buildings pockmarked with bullet holes would make you think you’re in the Gaza Strip less than 40 kilometers away. There’s even a claustrophobic concrete tunnel like those Hamas built to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza.
But this isn’t Gaza – it’s an Israeli army base and the soldiers here are training for urban warfare.
[[RADIO VERSION: Israeli Army Reserves Brigadier General Bentzi Gruber explains.]]
((Bentzi Gruber, Israeli Army Reserves Brigadier General, Male (in English), VOA))
“We built here a huge infrastructure that try to make sure that when you fight in a village you know how to fight in a village ///
((VIDEO: GRUBER WALKS PAST “PALESTINIAN” GRAFITTI IN LITTLE GAZA, VOA))
/// to make sure that you know who is the enemy, where is the enemy and who is the people that you don’t want to kill.”
((VIDEO: ISRAELI ARMY FIGHTS IN JENIN, AFP))
((VIDEO: PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS FLEE JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, AFP))
((NARRATOR))
Twelve Palestinians were killed in the recent two-day offensive into the Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli army spokesman says all 12 Palestinians were combatants and not civilians, claiming this as evidence that the Little Gaza training program to reduce collateral damage works.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says that two out of the 12 Palestinians killed were under 18.
Israel has drawn international criticism for its Jenin raid, with the UN’s Secretary-General accusing Israel of using excessive force. And human rights organizations say that operations like the one in Jenin always have a negative effect on civilians.
[[RADIO VERSION: Ori Givati is Advocacy Director at Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group that monitors abuses by Israeli security forces in the Palestinian territories.]]
((Ori Givati, Breaking the Silence Advocacy Director, Male (in English), VOA))
((Mandatory cg: Zoom))
“Even if I will take what the military is saying that all of them were combatants, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t affect the lives of thousands -- by ruining their infrastructure, by creating lifelong mental health issues for the children, by creating a situation that once again the refugee camp in Jenin, a big part of it, was destroyed, and will take ages to recover.”
((VIDEO: IRON DOME SIMULATOR IN TZE’ELIM ARMY BASE, VOA))
((NARRATOR))
Soldiers training in this army base also practice on a simulator for Israel’s Iron Dome, the U.S.-funded anti-missile system that has proven to be effective against rockets fired from Gaza. By mimicking the reality of urban warfare as closely as possible, Israeli officials say they aim to train their soldiers to limit collateral damage and loss of life on both sides.
((Linda Gradstein, for VOA News, at the Tze'elim army base in southern Israel))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Tze’elim Army Base, Israel
Embargo DateJuly 17, 2023 18:12 EDT
Byline
Linda Gradstein , VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English