Palestinian resistance icon Ahed Tamimi released from Israeli prison

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01 December, 2023


Palestinian resistance icon Ahed Tamimi has been released from prison after initially being detained last month for an alleged social media post that her family has denied was even hers.

Shortly after her release late Wednesday night, Ahed Tamimi spoke to reporters about her time spent in the Damon Prison near Haifa - and recounted threats made by Israeli forces to have her father killed.

She said Israeli officials had warned her to avoid speaking publicly about any details of her detention, or severe consequences would take place against one of her loved ones.

“When [Israeli forces] processed my release, they threatened me with my father,” Tamimi said. “They told me: 'We have your father. If you say anything, we will kill him here'.”

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Ahed Tamimi was among 30 other women and children who were freed in the sixth prisoner exchange swap, as part of the temporary truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

Ahed also described conditions for the female prisoners and said that there was "no food, water and clothes" and that the women were in a "very bad state".

Ahed Tamimi, like several other recently released Palestinians, added that prisoners were tortured by Israeli authorities.

Ahed Tamimi rose to prominence in 2017 when, then 16, she slapped an Israeli soldier who raided her occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

She and her family have for years protested Israeli land seizures in the area, but this single incident saw her put into prison for eight months.

Ahed's father, Bassem Tamimi, a veteran protest organiser and community leader, is still currently imprisoned without charge.