Activist Ahed Tamimi released in Gaza truce swap

RAMALLAH: Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was among 30 prisoners freed by Israel early on Thursday under a temporary Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli troops earlier this month arrested Tamimi, regarded in the occupied West Bank as a hero since she was a teenager, on suspicion of inciting violence. Her mother has denied the allegation and said it was based on a fake social media post.

The Israel Prison Service posted a list of Palestinians released on Thursday morning to its website that included Tamimi. A Palestinian official said she was released after being jailed in Damon Prison, near the Israeli city of Haifa.

Tamimi, 22, rose to prominence in 2017 when, at age 16, she slapped an Israeli soldier who raided her West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. She and others have for years protested Israeli land seizures in the area.

After slapping the soldier, Tamimi was sentenced to eight months in prison upon pleading guilty to reduced charges that included assault.

Tamimi is one of hundreds in the West Bank who have been arrested as violence has flared in the territory over the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel says its West Bank arrests are aimed in part at thwarting attacks.

Under a truce, Israel has released Palestinians from its jails in exchange for Hamas’ release of some of the 240 hostages it captured during its deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel.