More aid must reach Syrian refugees to meet "expanding needs", the head of the U.N.'s World Food Program said Monday ahead of a visit to camps in Turkey.

"This is a global crisis and we are working together to make sure that we meet the needs of those seeking our support," Ertharin Cousin said in an interview.

A Palestinian man shot by Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday died of his wounds in hospital, a Palestinian medical official told AFP.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra earlier identified the man as Mustafa Abu Jirad, a 21-year-old farmer, saying he was shot in the head near Beit Lahiya, in an area near Gaza's border with Israel.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Monday renewed a call for Israel to scrap its plans to build settlements in a controversial West Bank area where police have evicted dozens of Palestinian activists.

Ban is "following with concern" developments around the "E1" area on the outskirts of Jerusalem, said a statement released by his press office.

A Libyan court Monday adjourned to February 11 the trial of Moammar Gadhafi's last premier al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, accused of killing civilians and financial crimes.

Defense lawyers had asked for the delay to allow time to summon witnesses and the judge demanded that all witnesses testify in a single hearing.

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi visits on Tuesday Iran, his country's key regional ally, a week after Syrian rebels freed 48 Iranians held hostage for more than five months, the foreign ministry said.

"The Syrian prime minister, leading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, arrives in Tehran tomorrow," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by the ISNA news agency on Monday.

Fifty-seven countries on Monday demanded that the U.N. Security Council refer the Syria conflict to the International Criminal Court for a war crimes investigation.

Switzerland sent a petition demanding the move to the 15-member Security Council, the only body that can refer the case to the ICC but which is bitterly divided over the 22-month-old war.

Syria's official media lashed out at U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday, denouncing him as an "aging tourist" after his criticism of President Bashar Assad's peace plan.

The latest attack on the veteran Algerian diplomat follows stinging criticism by the regime and its media since Brahimi last week termed the plan announced by Assad as "perhaps even more sectarian, more one-sided" than previous initiatives.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Monday called for a "new approach" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, slamming previous processes as a waste of time.

"In order to solve this problem, we should have a new mechanism and new methods and a new approach to dealing with the crisis," Arabi told reporters after talks with the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.

Iraq has freed 335 inmates in the past week, a top minister said Monday while apologizing to detainees held without charge, part of efforts to curb weeks of rallies by meeting key demands of protesters.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has alternated tough talk with offers of concessions to demonstrators amid a political crisis that has pitted him against his erstwhile government partners.

A Palestinian man was in serious condition on Monday after being shot by Israeli troops in northern Gaza near Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medical sources said.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra named the man as 21-year-old Mustafa Abu Jirad, a farmer, saying he was shot in the head in an area near Gaza's border with Israel, in the northern part of the territory.