A young Israeli woman is found dead in a forest on the outskirts of West Jerusalem. The circumstances around her death are initially unclear (Israel’s Shin Bet will, on 2/9, report that she was raped and killed by a West Bank Palestinian who was “nationalistically motivated”). In the West Bank, IDF troops detain 2 members of the International Solidarity Movement who were escorting Palestinian students to school through an Israeli security zone in Hebron. They also confiscate a vehicle and arrest 1 Palestinian during a raid near Hebron; and patrol near Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, and Tulkarm. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops arrest 2 Palestinians attempting to cross into Israel near Jabaliya refugee camp. They also open fire on Palestinian shepherds working near Gaza City and al-Bureij refugee camp, causing no injuries. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Bayt Lahiya; 1 fisherman is injured. In southern Israel, Israeli forces demolish the Palestinian bedouin village al-Araqib for the 140th time since 2010. (MNA, WAFA 2/7; MNA, MNA 2/8; PCHR 2/14)
Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza claim that the PA has not delivered their salaries on time this month. A PA official in Ramallah says that the payments are being delayed due to a “technical fault” and that the delay has nothing to do with PA president Mahmoud Abbas’s efforts to increase pressure on Hamas in Gaza. (JP 2/7)
The World Bank approves a $30 million grant to support the PA’s efforts to improve government transparence and to strengthen the electricity, water, and health sectors of the Palestinian economy. (MNA, WAFA 2/8)