RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli troops had shot and killed a 13-year-old boy near the occupied West Bank’s main city of Ramallah.
The Israeli army also bulldozed the main street in the Nur Shams refugee camp in a separate operation, Palestinian officials said, highlighting a spike in tensions since the Gaza war erupted on October 7.
Ghassan Gharib Zahran “was martyred by occupation bullets” at Deir Abu Mishal, near Ramallah, a health ministry statement said.
The Israeli army told AFP that “terrorists threw stones at Israeli vehicles in the Deir Abu Mishal area.”
Troops “responded by opening fire... which led to the injury of one of the terrorists,” the army added in a separate statement.
The boy’s cousin, Munther Zahran, said the dead boy was hit by a “bullet in the stomach” while he was in the main street in Deir Abu Mishal.
“The road is used by settlers and the army is constantly monitoring it,” he added.
Occupied by Israel since 1967, the West Bank has seen an escalation in violence since the Hamas attack on southern Israel set off a bitter conflict in the Gaza Strip over nine months ago.
At least 572 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers since October 7, according to Palestinian officials.
The Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem, has also been the target of several army operations in recent weeks.
Army bulldozers tore up the camp’s main street and destroyed several buildings on Tuesday, an AFP journalist saw.
Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammed Mustafa said there would be major “humanitarian repercussions” from the Israeli action.
“Recent events have shown the unprecedented destruction of essential infrastructure, including the water and electricity networks, and significant demolition” of Palestinian homes, Mustafa said in a statement.
Palestinian health ministry says teen killed in Israeli operation
https://arab.news/5ztg4
Palestinian health ministry says teen killed in Israeli operation
- The boy’s cousin said the dead boy was hit by a “bullet in the stomach” while he was in the main street in Deir Abu Mishal
- “The road is used by settlers and the army is constantly monitoring it,” he added
Lebanon approves release of former minister accused of corruption
- Salam is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019
- The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s judiciary approved the release on bail of former economy minister Amin Salam on Tuesday after six months of detention over corruption linked to contracts deemed suspicious, a judicial official said.
Salam, who served in the cabinet of former prime minister Najib Mikati from 2021 to 2025, is the only ex-minister to be arrested since the start of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019.
The official, who requested anonymity, told AFP Lebanon’s judiciary “agreed to release former economy minister Amin Salam on bail of nine billion Lebanese pounds, equivalent to $100,000” and a travel ban.
The official added that the bail was paid, with procedures ongoing to secure his release from prison.
In June, another judicial official said Salam had been arrested in connection with alleged “falsification, embezzlement and suspicious contracts.”
Salam’s adviser Fadi Tamim was sentenced in 2023 to one year in prison for blackmail and personal enrichment at the expense of insurance companies.
The former minister’s brother Karim Salam was also arrested earlier this year in a “case of illicit enrichment, forgery and extortion of insurance companies,” committed “under cover of the minister himself,” the official said in June.
Many in Lebanon attribute the economic crisis to mismanagement and corruption that has plagued state institutions for decades.
President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who both took office this year, have vowed to make the fight against endemic corruption a priority, as part of the reforms demanded by international donors.
Both have vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary and prevent interference in its work, in a country plagued by official impunity.
In September, former central bank governor Riad Salameh, who faces numerous accusations including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion, was released after being detained for over a year by paying a record bail of more than $14 million.
