Exhausted and imprisoned: how life in the West Bank is getting worse for Palestinians

Sally Hayden speaks to Palestinians in the West Bank about their experiences

Listen | 26:12
A resident of Tekoa, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, installs new surveillance cameras above a guard post near the entrance to the settlement. Photograph: Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times
A resident of Tekoa, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, installs new surveillance cameras above a guard post near the entrance to the settlement. Photograph: Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times

The expansion of Israeli settlements – which are illegal under international law – has increased since Hamas’s October 7th attack on Israel in 2023.

In May, Israel announced that 22 new Jewish settlements had been approved in the occupied West Bank – the biggest expansion in decades.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade in goods with the occupied Palestinian territories, is continuing.

But even if it passes, what will this Irish legislation actually change for the Palestinians in the West Bank?

Today, on In The News, what life is really like in Palestine’s occupied West Bank.

Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden reports from the West Bank where she has witnessed, at first hand, the flashpoints between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Andrew McNair.

Sorcha Pollak

Sorcha Pollak

Sorcha Pollak is an Irish Times reporter specialising in immigration issues and cohost of the In the News podcast

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