Palestinians Say Israeli Troops Kill Teen in West Bank

A demonstrator brandishing a Palestinian national flag walks past Israeli troops, during confrontations with them following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the occupied-West Bank, in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A demonstrator brandishing a Palestinian national flag walks past Israeli troops, during confrontations with them following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the occupied-West Bank, in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians Say Israeli Troops Kill Teen in West Bank

A demonstrator brandishing a Palestinian national flag walks past Israeli troops, during confrontations with them following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the occupied-West Bank, in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A demonstrator brandishing a Palestinian national flag walks past Israeli troops, during confrontations with them following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the occupied-West Bank, in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya Thursday, where the military reported that troops fired at rioters.

Israeli police, meanwhile, said an elderly Israeli man died after a carjacking near the same city.

Naeem Abdullah Samha, 15, was killed "by occupation (Israeli army) bullets" in Qalqilya, the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said in a statement, AFP reported.

The Palestinian official news agency Wafa, citing local sources, reported that Samha was shot in the chest.

He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead of his wounds, Wafa said, which gave no reason for the shooting.

The military said troops had come under attack from rioters.

"A violent riot was instigated during army counterterrorism activity in the Qalqilya area during which suspects hurled stones and glass bottles toward the soldiers," a statement said.

It said soldiers "responded with fire. A hit was identified on one of the rioters."

In another development at the entrance to Qalqilya earlier on Thursday, a 78-year-old Israeli man was carjacked by several suspects and later died of his injuries, Israeli police said.

It is unclear if the two incidents in the area were connected.

The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has for more than a year experienced a rise in deadly incidents, but particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7.

Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank in what it says is a bid to thwart militant groups.

At least 547 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, according to Palestinian officials.

Attacks by Palestinians have killed at least 14 Israelis in the West Bank over the same period, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The West Bank is home to about 490,000 Israeli settlers who live in communities considered illegal under international law.



Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
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Close Aide of Syria President Dies after Car Crash

Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)
Luna al-Shibl, a member of the Syrian government delegation arrives to meet UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on January 24, 2014 at the "Geneva II" peace talks in Geneva. (AFP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's media adviser Luna al-Shibl died on Friday three days after being injured in a car crash, Assad's office announced.

"The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic mourns the death of the adviser Luna al-Shibl, who passed away today after a serious car accident", it said in a statement.

"She served in recent years as a director of the political and media office of the presidency and then as a special adviser to the presidency," it added.

State media reported on Tuesday that she had suffered a "cerebral hemorrhage" which required emergency surgery after her car "veered off the road".

The 48-year-old rose to prominence for quitting a prestigious journalism career at Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera to become Assad's media adviser at a time when Damascus was cracking down on peaceful protesters in 2011, triggering Syria's ongoing civil war.

But her role expanded well beyond communications, carving out a place within Assad's inner circle as she accompanied him to high-level meetings in Syria and on his rare visits abroad.

She played an important role during the most intense years of the war and was part of the delegation to ultimately doomed peace talks in 2014.

Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported earlier this week that she had fallen out of official favor in recent months and her brother had been arrested.

"There was growing dissatisfaction with her within the regime," said Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman.

"Accusations surfaced that she leaked minutes of closed meetings between Assad and Iranian officials," Abdulrahman added.

Syrian intelligence arrested her brother "on charges of communicating with a party hostile to Syria" after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April, the monitor said.

In 2020, Washington sanctioned Shibl and her husband Ammar Saati, with the US Treasury saying at the time that "she has been instrumental in developing Assad's false narrative that he maintains control of the country and that the Syrian people flourish under his leadership".