This Young Palestinian Activist Who Slapped An Israeli Soldier In 2017 Has Been Released By Israel
22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, who was arrested in recent Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank is one of the prisoners released as part of a deal for a brief pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas.
The young Palestinian activist, Ahed Tamimi, who slapped an Israeli soldier in 2017 has been freed after Israel arrested her in recent raids in the occupied West Bank.
22-year-old Tamimi is one of the 30 prisoners released on Thursday Nov. 30 as part of a deal for a brief pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas.
An activist since a young age, she went viral in December 2017 when she slapped an Israeli soldier at a protest against growing Israeli settlements in her hometown of Nabi Salih.
Tamimi said she had slapped the soldier after her 15-year-old cousin was shot in the head by a rubber bullet and severely injured at the protest.
Tamimi and her mother were arrested and charged with assault and released after 8 months in prison.
On Nov. 6, Israeli forces arrested Tamimi again “on suspicion of inciting violence and terrorist activities” during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank.
Israel said Tamimi had shared a post calling for the murder of Israeli settlers in the West Bank in an Instagram post.
Tamimi’s mother said that Tamimi was not behind the post and that it was an imposter account.
Israel has dramatically increased its raids in the occupied West Bank since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7.
On Dec. 1, the UN human rights office said it was “seriously concerned at the recent dramatic growth in the number of Palestinians arrested and detained by Israeli security forces across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities have arrested more than 3,000 people, including Tamimi.
Many of the Palestinians who have been arrested are children and many more are being held in prison without a charge or trial.
The UN human rights office has also received reports of “allegations that Palestinian inmates have been subjected to beatings and abuse by detention guards”, but Israeli authorities have investigated few of these cases.
A total of 240 Israelis were released as part of the brief ceasefire between Nov. 24 and Nov. 30.
