Israel has apprehended Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi during a series of overnight operations in the occupied West Bank. The 22-year-old, who is widely recognized for her role in non-violent resistance, has been taken into custody by Israeli authorities on charges of “inciting terrorism.” This arrest comes in the wake of ongoing Israeli raids and clashes in the West Bank, a region that has witnessed escalating violence since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict last month.
Nariman Tamimi, the mother of the detained activist, informed Anadolu news agency that Israeli forces conducted a thorough search of their home and seized the family members’ mobile phones. The situation is compounded by the recent arrest of Ahed Tamimi’s father, Bassem Tamimi, during a separate raid in their town. His whereabouts remain unknown.
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The Tamimi family is a well-known advocate for non-violent resistance and has been at the forefront of Nabi Saleh’s peaceful struggle for nearly a decade. Israeli authorities have detained Bassem Tamimi, Ahed’s father, multiple times, and he has spent a considerable portion of his life in prison.
Ahed Tamimi’s fame stems from her appearances in images and videos where she confronts Israeli soldiers. She has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. In December 2017, her detention garnered international attention and debate. She had, on record, slapped an Israeli soldier. As a result, authorities sentenced her to eight months in prison after she agreed to a plea deal. They released her on July 29, 2018.
The most recent arrest comes in the wake of Israeli media reports about a post on an Instagram account purportedly belonging to Ahed Tamimi. The post allegedly called for a violent attack on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, making reference to Adolf Hitler. An Israeli security source showed this alleged Instagram post to Agence France-Presse (AFP) when asked about the reasons behind the arrest. However, Tamimi’s family has vehemently denied that she has an Instagram account or that she writes in Hebrew, as the post was in both Hebrew and Arabic. Her mother stated that there are “dozens of (online) pages in Ahed’s name with her photo, with which she has no connection.”