Israel seeks 12 charges against Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi

Israel seeks 12 charges against Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi

Israeli authorities are seeking 12 charges against a Palestinian teenager arrested after a video of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank went viral.
2 min read
01 January, 2018
Ahed Tamimi was arrested in the early hours of December 19 [Getty]

Israeli authorities are seeking 12 charges against a Palestinian teenager arrested after a video of her slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank went viral, her lawyer said Monday.

Ahed Tamimi, 16, has been hailed as a hero by Palestinians who see her as bravely standing up to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky spoke to journalists ahead of her hearing in a military court, saying the charges include assault and relate to six different incidents.

The accusations also include stone-throwing, incitement and making threats, Lasky said.

Prosecutors are also seeking five charges against her mother Nariman, and had on Sunday filed charges against her cousin Nour, 20.

Ahed Tamimi's family says the December 15 incident occurred in the yard of their home in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.

A video shows the cousins approaching two Israeli soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them.

Ahed Tamimi, arrested in the early hours of December 19, has been involved in a series of previous confrontations, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers widely published.

The incident occurred during a day of clashes across the West Bank against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The sharply conflicting Palestinian and Israeli interpretations of the widely viewed video highlight the deep rift between the two societies, at a time of heightened tension over the status of contested Jerusalem, the centrepiece of the long-running conflict.