Israeli Forces Kill One Palestinian in West Bank Refugee Camp

Mourners carry bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 20,2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Mourners carry bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 20,2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
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Israeli Forces Kill One Palestinian in West Bank Refugee Camp

Mourners carry bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 20,2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Mourners carry bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 20,2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a dawn raid on Tuesday on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The Israeli military said the man was killed in a "counter-terrorism" operation that resulted in 18 arrests, while the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem died after snipers shot him and fired on ambulance crew.
Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the current war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts.
WAFA said Israeli bulldozers demolished infrastructure in the camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp's water network.



Syrian Police Impose Curfew in Homs after Unrest

Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Syrian Police Impose Curfew in Homs after Unrest

Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)
Syrian children play on a damaged tank in Homs, on December 20, 2024. (AFP)

Syrian police have imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Homs, state media reported, after unrest there linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the minority Alawite and Shiite communities.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the demands of the demonstrators nor the degree of disturbance that took place.

Some residents said the demonstrations were linked to pressure and violence in recent days aimed at members of the Alawite minority, a sect long seen as loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled by opposition fighters on Dec. 8.

Spokespeople for Syria’s new ruling administration led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the curfew.

State media said the curfew was being imposed for one night, from 6pm (1500 GMT) local time until 8am on Thursday morning.

The country's new leaders have repeatedly vowed to protect minority religious groups.

Small demonstrations also took place in other areas on or near Syria’s coast, where most of the country’s Alawite minority live, including in the city of Tartous.

The demonstrations took place around the time an undated video was circulated on social networks showing a fire inside an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo, with armed men walking around inside and posing near human bodies.

The interior ministry said on its official Telegram account that the video dated back to the opposition offensive on Aleppo in late November and the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding that whoever was circulating the video now appeared to be seeking to incite sectarian strife.

The ministry also said that some members of the former regime had attacked interior ministry forces in Syria’s coastal area on Wednesday, leaving a number of dead and wounded.