Israeli elections are held but results are too close to call; late returns show Kadima with a thin lead over Likud (28 seats to 27), and both Kadima’s Livni and Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu declare victory. Overall distribution of Knesset seats shows a dramatic shift to the Right. (AP, AYM, HA, HJ, MA, MM, REU 2/10; DUS, HA, HJ, IHY, JP, MA, MM, NYT, QA, WP, WT, YA 2/11; WP 2/12; WT 2/13)
IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on a group of international activists searching for the body of 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. killed on 2/8 (the other body was retrieved on 2/8), causing no injuries; the IDF eventually allows the body to be retrieved. In the West Bank, the IDF searches homes in Tarama village s. of Hebron, uproots trees fr. a plot of Palestinian land with the intention of annexing it to an adjacent IDF post; conducts a midday patrol in the al-Udaysiyya area nr. Hebron, arresting 4 children (ages 14–16) for throwing stones at them; makes a late-night raid on a pool hall in Kafr Ra’i, interrogating patrons but making no arrests. (NYT, WT 2/11; PCHR 2/12)