Ahed Tamini freed after eight months in prison
The 17-year-old girl who slapped an Israeli soldier in the West Bank was released yesterday. Back home, she declares: "My resistance continues until the occupation ends". Meanwhile, a ship with medicines and humanitarian aid to Gaza was seized by the Israeli Navy.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Ahed Tamini was released yesterday after eight months in prison. The 17-year-old Palestinian girl was arrested after slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier outside her home in Nabi Saleh in the West Bank.
She had become a symbol of resistance against Israel for the Palestinian people. Back home, the girl declared: "My resistance continues until the occupation ends".
In a preliminary hearing, Ahmed Tamimi had explained that she had attacked the Israeli soldiers because, on the same day, she had seen one of them shoot her 15-year-old cousin in the head with a rubber bullet.
Many Israelis say the girl's image has been exploited by her family and the Palestinians. Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Ahed and her cousin Nour, involved in the clashes, "deserved to be imprisoned for life".
For the Palestinians Ahed Tamini has become a symbol of courage and opposition to the Israeli occupation. The Israeli police also arrested and then released two Italian street artists, after they had painted the face of Ahed Tamini on the wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, yesterday, a ship of the NGO Freedom Flotilla Coalition was stopped by the Israeli Navy. They tweeted: "The #FreedomFlotilla ship carrying medicines to Gaza was stopped by the Israeli army". The NGO calls for a safe passage and "a rapid delivery of the medical cargo for the Palestinians of Gaza".
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee confirms the seizure of the ship: "A naval operation was completed shortly during which a boat from Europe that wanted to violate the naval blockade imposed on Gaza was taken."
The ship has sailed from Norway. On board there are about 36 activists from all over the world. The situation in Gaza has worsened in recent months, after Israel also blocked humanitarian aid by land.
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18/01/2018 16:39
