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Israeli Settler Kills Palestinian Who Military Says Was Planning Attack

File photo: Israeli settlers gather near the settlement of Bat Ayin in the occupied West Bank on 21 June 2021. AFP
File photo: Israeli settlers gather near the settlement of Bat Ayin in the occupied West Bank on 21 June 2021. AFP
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Israeli Settler Kills Palestinian Who Military Says Was Planning Attack

File photo: Israeli settlers gather near the settlement of Bat Ayin in the occupied West Bank on 21 June 2021. AFP
File photo: Israeli settlers gather near the settlement of Bat Ayin in the occupied West Bank on 21 June 2021. AFP

An Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian man who the Israeli military said was armed with knives and explosive devices on Friday near a city in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said separately its forces raided a town near the Palestinian hub city of Ramallah overnight and opened fire on a crowd throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, hitting one person, without specifying whether they were killed or wounded, Reuters said.

Tension in the West Bank has been surging for months, with the near-daily military raids and escalating settler violence in the West Bank amid a spate of attacks by Palestinians.

Palestinian officials confirmed a 21-year-old man was killed by an Israeli settler near the city of Qalqilya on Friday but did not immediately note any casualties from the raid in Ni'lin.

Relatives of the man killed told Reuters he was religious but were not aware of any membership in Palestinian groups. They said the military was still withholding his body.

On Thursday, a Hamas gunman opened fire in Tel Aviv, wounding three people, one of them critically, before being killed by police and passersby. The group said the attack was a response to Israel's killing of three Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank earlier that day.

During the operation in the town of Ni'lin on Friday, the Israeli military said it arrested two relatives of the Hamas gunman and mapped out his home for demolition.

Israel says such demolitions are meant to deter potential Palestinian assailants. Palestinians and rights groups condemn the policy as collective punishment.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have made thousands of arrests in the West Bank and killed more than 200 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians. More than 40 Israelis and foreign nationals have died in attacks by Palestinians over the same period.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, areas Israel captured in a 1967 Middle East war. The expansion of Jewish settlements and deadlocked political progress have increasingly dimmed statehood prospects.

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Arab World

After US Exemption, UN Says More Significant Syria Sanctions Work Needed

A general view shows Damascus from Mount Qasioun, after one month since the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A general view shows Damascus from Mount Qasioun, after one month since the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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After US Exemption, UN Says More Significant Syria Sanctions Work Needed

A general view shows Damascus from Mount Qasioun, after one month since the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)
A general view shows Damascus from Mount Qasioun, after one month since the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 7, 2025. (Reuters)

A US sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria is welcome, but "much more significant work ... will inevitably be necessary," the UN special envoy on Syria, Geir Pedersen, told the Security Council on Wednesday.

After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightening offensive by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group a month ago.

The US, Britain, the European Union and others imposed tough sanctions on Syria after a crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protests in 2011 that spiraled into war. But the new reality in Syria has been further complicated by sanctions on HTS - and some leaders - for its days as an al-Qaeda affiliate.

"I welcome the recent issuance of a new temporary General License by the United States government. But much more significant work in fully addressing sanctions and designations will inevitably be necessary," Pedersen told the council.

The US on Monday issued a sanctions exemption, known as a general license, for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance and allow some energy transactions.

"The United States welcomes positive messages from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, but will ultimately look for progress in actions, not words," deputy US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Camille Shea told the Security Council.

The foreign ministry in Damascus on Wednesday welcomed the US move and called for a full lifting of restrictions to support Syria's recovery.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier on Wednesday that European Union sanctions on Syria that obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid and hinder the country's recovery could be lifted swiftly.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia criticized the sanctions imposed on Syria by Washington and others, adding: "As a result, the Syrian economy is under extreme pressure and is not able to cope with the challenges facing the country." Russia was an Assad ally throughout the war.

'END THE SUFFERING'

Formerly known as Nusra Front, HTS was al-Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Along with unilateral measures, the group has also been on the UN Security Council al-Qaeda and ISIS sanctions list for more than a decade, subjected to a global assets freeze and arms embargo.

There are no UN sanctions on Syria over the civil war.

Syria's UN Ambassador Koussay Aldahhak was appointed a year ago by Assad's government but told the council on Wednesday that he was speaking for the caretaker authorities.

"It is high time to end the suffering, to enable Syrians to live in security and prosperity, to live a dignified life in their country, to build a better future for their country," Aldahhak said.

"For this reason, we call upon the United Nations and its member states to immediately and fully lift the unilateral coercive measures to provide the necessary financing to meet humanitarian needs and recover basic services," he said.

Pedersen said he is seeking to work with the caretaker authorities in Syria "on how the nascent and important ideas and steps so far articulated and initiated could be developed towards a credible and inclusive political transition."

Pedersen said attacks on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity must stop, specifically calling out Israel.

As Assad's government crumbled towards the end of last year, Israel launched a series of strikes against Syrian military infrastructure and weapons manufacturing sites to prevent them falling into the hands of enemies.

"Reports of the IDF using live ammunition against civilians, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure are also very worrying," Pedersen said. "Such violations, along with Israeli airstrikes in other parts of Syria – reported even last week in Aleppo – could further jeopardize the prospects for an orderly political transition."