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Israel extends Ahed Tamimi’s detention for 48 hours

January 16, 2018 at 2:28 am

Palestinian teenager Ahed Al-Tamimi left prison on Sunday after an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency]

An Israeli court extended today the detention of the 16-year-old Palestinian girl, Ahed Al-Tamimi, for 48 hours “pending further investigation.”

Al-Tamimi’s detention was extended four times since she was detained by the Israeli authorities last month.

Israel’s Ofer military court, located west of the West Bank city of Ramallah, extended the teen’s detention to 17 January at the request of military prosecutors.

Along with the members of her family, Al-Tamimi’s court session was attended by several foreign diplomats and human rights organisations and activists.

While Tamimi was entering the court, handcuffed and leg shackled, her father, Bassem, told her “you’re strong.” The detained responded to her father saying “I’m fine.”

Read More: Lieberman imposes collective punishment on Tamimi family

Israeli forces first detained Al-Tamimi on 19 December during an overnight raid that was carried out in Ramallah’s northern village of Nabi Saleh. It was not the teen’s first brush with the Israeli forces.

Both her mother and cousin were arrested shortly afterwards. The girl’s father, mother and brothers have also all been repeatedly arrested for their “fierce opposition to Israel’s decades-long occupation.”

The occupied Palestinian territories have remained tense since 6 December, when the US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, drawing condemnation and protest from across the Arab and the Muslim world.

Since then, at least 17 Palestinians have been martyred in clashes with the Israeli security forces in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.