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.



Five ISIS Bombs Found Hidden in Iconic Mosul Mosque in Iraq

(FILES) This picture taken on January 18, 2022 shows renovations at the al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on January 18, 2022 shows renovations at the al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)
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Five ISIS Bombs Found Hidden in Iconic Mosul Mosque in Iraq

(FILES) This picture taken on January 18, 2022 shows renovations at the al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on January 18, 2022 shows renovations at the al-Nuri mosque in the old town of Iraq's northern city Mosul. (Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)

A United Nations agency said it has discovered five bombs in a wall of Mosul's iconic Al-Nuri mosque, planted years ago by ISIS militants, during restoration work in the northern Iraqi city.

Five "large-scale explosive devices, designed to trigger a massive destruction of the site," were found in the southern wall of the prayer hall on Tuesday by the UNESCO team working at the site, a representative for the agency told AFP late Friday.

Mosul's Al-Nuri mosque and the adjacent leaning minaret nicknamed Al-Hadba or the "hunchback", which dates from the 12th century, were destroyed during the battle to retake the city from ISIS.

Iraq's army accused ISIS, which occupied Mosul for three years, of planting explosives at the site and blowing it up.

UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, has been working to restore the mosque and other architectural heritage sites in the city, much of it reduced to rubble in the battle to retake it in 2017.

"The Iraqi armed forces immediately secured the area and the situation is now fully under control," UNESCO added.

One bomb was removed, but four other 1.5-kilogram devices "remain connected to each other" and are expected to be cleared in the coming days, it said.

"These explosive devices were hidden inside a wall, which was specially rebuilt around them: it explains why they could not be discovered when the site was cleared by Iraqi forces" in 2020, the agency said.

Iraqi General Tahseen al-Khafaji, spokesperson for the Joint Operations Command of various Iraqi forces, confirmed the discovery of "several explosive devices from ISIS militants in Al-Nuri mosque."

He said provincial deminers requested help from the Defense Ministry in Baghdad to defuse the remaining munitions because of their "complex manufacturing".

Construction work has been suspended at the site until the bombs are removed.

It was from Al-Nuri mosque that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the then-leader of ISIS, proclaimed the establishment of the group's "caliphate" in July 2014.