Palestinian Teen Shot by Israeli Forces Dies

A Palestinian protester seeks cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes after a demonstration against Israel's settlements on the lands of Kafr Qaddum village, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 17 February 2023. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
A Palestinian protester seeks cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes after a demonstration against Israel's settlements on the lands of Kafr Qaddum village, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 17 February 2023. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Palestinian Teen Shot by Israeli Forces Dies

A Palestinian protester seeks cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes after a demonstration against Israel's settlements on the lands of Kafr Qaddum village, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 17 February 2023. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
A Palestinian protester seeks cover from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes after a demonstration against Israel's settlements on the lands of Kafr Qaddum village, near the West Bank city of Nablus, 17 February 2023. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

A 16-year-old Palestinian died Monday from his wounds almost two weeks after being shot in the head by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry announced the death of "Montaser Mohammad Theeb Shawa, 16, of his wounds, which he sustained two weeks ago by the occupation (Israeli) bullets in Balata camp" in Nablus in the northern West Bank.

According to AFP, the statement added that the "bullet penetrated his head".

Medical sources at the Rafidia hospital in Nablus said Shawa had been shot on February 8.

The Israeli army said in a statement that "on the evening of February 8... armed gunmen fired at soldiers" who secured Jewish worshipers at Joseph's Tomb, a contested religious site near the Balata refugee camp.

The force "responded with live fire", the Israeli statement said, adding without elaborating that a person had been hit.

Nablus has seen frequent clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in recent months.



Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.