The BBC has rebuked Anjana Gadgil, one of its Indian origin presenters, after she said that “the Israeli forces are happy to kill children”.

She was interviewing Naftali Bennett, who was prime minister of Israel from 2021 to 2022, about the major raid by Israeli forces on July 3 on Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian stronghold in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing 12 Palestinians.

In the interview, Anjana said: “The Israeli military are calling this a ‘military operation’ but we now know that young people are being killed, four of them under 18. “Is that really what the military set out to do? To kill people between the ages of 16 and 18?”

Bennett responded: “Quite to the contrary. Actually, all 11 people dead there are militants. The fact that there are young terrorists who decide to hold arms is their responsibility.” He added that many of those responsible for terror attacks that had killed dozens of Israelis over the past year either came from Jenin or had been trained there.

“Jenin has become an epicentre of terror. All the Palestinians that were killed were terrorists, in this case.” Anjana pressed him on the casualties: “Terrorists, but children. The Israeli forces are happy to kill children.”

Jewish groups expressed outrage that her question came out as a statement of fact. Bennett was visibly angry at her remark: “You know, it’s quite remarkable that you would say that because they are killing us. If there is a 17-year-old Palestinian shooting at your family, Anjana, what is he?”

Anjana pointed out the United Nations had defined these militants as “children”. She did not engage with Bennett when he came back with: “I am actually asking you what would you call a 17-year-old person with a rifle shooting at your family and murdering your own family?”

Anjana, 45, was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to an Indian father and an English mother. She went to Portsmouth High School and then Havant College before studying mandarin and history at School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She went on to work at the Guardian and The Times before moving into broadcast journalism in 2002 at Sky Sports News and then the BBC. She moved back to Hampshire with her young family in 2016 to join South Today where she works as a presenter and reporter, as well as a regular host on BBC News and the broadcaster’s sports output.

Faced with a backlash from Jewish groups, the BBC said: “BBC News has received comments and complaints concerning an interview with Naftali Bennett broadcast on the BBC News channel about recent events in the West Bank and Israel. “The complaints raised relate to specific interview questions about the deaths of young people in the Jenin refugee camp. “The United Nations raised the issue of the impact of the operation in Jenin on children and young people. “While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologise that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews stated: “We are appalled by comments made by a BBC presenter during an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The comments made, including the charge that ‘Israeli forces are happy to kill children’ when discussing armed terrorists under the age of 18, is simply disgraceful.

“This is clear breach of the corporation’s own Editorial Guidelines, and we will be contacting the director general personally to protest in the strongest possible terms.” But pro-Palestinian groups on social media spoke in support of Anjana and expressed “solidarity” with the under-fire presenter.

The Daily Mail invited its readers to comment on the BBC apology. One said, “I don’t think the BBC know what impartial reporting is,” but another backed Anjana, “She’s a brave and honest lady. A credit to the BBC.”