The Month in Pictures: February 2016
A Palestinian child stands in a home raided by the Israeli army during a search-and-arrest operation in the West Bank city of Hebron on 29 February.APA images
Muhammad Al-Qiq, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, is seen in a hospital the town of Afula in northern Israel on 8 February. Al-Qiq launched his strike in late November after he was arrested from his West Bank home; Israel held him without charge or trial until Israel’s high court froze his detention order on 4 February after al-Qiq’s health deteriorated. Despite this, the court did not allow him to go free and Al-Qiq continued his hunger strike for three more weeks, demanding transfer to a Palestinian hospital, before reaching a deal with the Israeli authorities.ActiveStills
4 March 2016
At least 17 Palestinians were killed, including seven children, during the month of February and three Israelis were slain as an unprecedented phase of violence in the occupied West Bank that began last October showed no signs of ebbing.
Most Palestinians were slain during what Israel alleges were attacks or attempted attacks, mainly targeting occupation forces. But in several cases, no Israelis were injured during the alleged attacks in which Palestinians — including children Qusay Abu al-Rub, Nihad Waqed, Fuad Waqed, Naim Ahmad Yousif Safi and Mahmoud Shaalan — were shot dead.
Six Palestinians were slain at the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City during February, five of them during two separate armed attacks on Israeli Border Police, during which one officer wasfatally wounded. Another man was killed by Border Police in a third incident; his apparent execution after an alleged stabbing was caught on video by an Al Jazeera camera crew who were filming in the area.
An off-duty Israeli soldier was killed by friendly fire during an alleged stabbing at the entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc – the site of several other attacks in recent months. Another off-duty Israeli soldier who held US citizenship was fatally stabbed in a supermarket in a West Bank settlement; the alleged attackers, both 14, were shot and seriously wounded. They are the youngest Palestinians to have killed an Israeli since October.
Two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old boy, were shot dead when Israeli soldiers opened fire on demonstrators during February.
