RAMALLAH: Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was among 30 prisoners freed by Israel early on Thursday under a temporary Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Israeli troops arrested Tamimi in early November on suspicion of inciting violence. She is regarded in the occupied West Bank as a hero since she was a child. Her mother has denied the allegation and said it was based on a fake social media post.

The social media post is no longer visible online, nor is the account it came from, which carried her name and photo. Israel’s prison service posted a list of Palestinians released on Thursday morning to its website that included Tamimi. A Palestinian official said she was released after being jailed in Damon Prison, near the Israeli city of Haifa.

Tamimi, 22, rose to prominence in 2017 when, at age 16, she slapped an Israeli soldier who raided her West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. She and others have for years protested Israeli land seizures in the area.

After slapping the soldier, Tamimi was sentenced to eight months in prison upon pleading guilty to reduced charges that included assault.

Her father, Bassem Tamimi, is an activist who used to regularly organise protests against the Israeli occupation and has been repeatedly jailed.

Tamimi is one of hundreds in the West Bank who have been arrested as violence has flared in the territory since Oct 7.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2023