A young Palestinian man has handed himself into Israeli authorities after being accused of spitting on a uniformed Israeli soldier aboard a public bus - an incident that sparked a highly publicised manhunt and intense media coverage, despite its symbolic, non-violent nature.
The 24-year-old, reportedly from the West Bank town of Hawara, which suffered a violent settler-led pogrom in 2023, is now in Israeli custody.
Israeli police claim he had entered the country without a permit and had not paid the bus fare, making it harder to locate him. The mayor of Ramat Gan offered a reward of 18,000 shekels (around $5,000) for information leading to his arrest.
A viral video circulating online showed the man spitting near a uniformed Israeli soldier onboard a bus travelling between Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, before getting off.
The soldier, a 29-year-old reservist captain, later told Israeli media she had felt "uncomfortable" after the man played Arabic music nearby, before he allegedly spat in her direction.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, known for his far-right views and incitement against Palestinians, posted a photograph of the young man in custody, calling for "zero tolerance" toward anyone who "harms" Israeli soldiers.
Defence Minister Israel Katz escalated the rhetoric further, branding the man a "terrorist" and demanding he be "punished to the fullest extent" - language critics say reflects the deepening criminalisation of even non-violent acts by Palestinians.
The man's arrest came after conflicting reports over whether he had initially surrendered to the Palestinian Authority before being transferred to Israel, an account later denied.
He is currently being held at Ramat Gan-Bnei Brak police station and is expected to appear in a Tel Aviv magistrates' court.
The case has sparked debate over the Israeli government's prioritisation of symbolic confrontations with Palestinians at a time when international outrage is mounting over its conduct in Gaza, where entire families have been wiped out in indiscriminate attacks, hospitals destroyed, and famine was tightening its grip on civilians trapped under siege.