Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi arrested for 'inciting terror'

The Israeli army said Monday it had arrested the prominent 22-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi during a raid in the occupied West Bank.

"Ahed Tamimi was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and terrorist activities in the town of Nabi Salih" near the city of Ramallah, an army spokesman told AFP.

"Tamimi was transferred to Israeli security forces for further questioning."

Tamimi became famous at age 14 when she was filmed biting an Israeli soldier to prevent him from arresting her little brother who had his arm in a cast.

She has become an icon of the Palestinian cause and a large portrait of her has been painted on the Israeli separation wall with the West Bank in Bethlehem near Jerusalem.

Since the start of the Gaza war triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Israeli security forces have carried out large-scale arrests of Palestinians suspected of links to Hamas or of inciting violence.

A spike in tensions and violence has claimed the lives of more than 150 Palestinians in the West Bank since then, most killed by Israeli soldiers or by settlers according to the Palestinian health ministry.