Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi detained in West Bank crackdown

The Israeli military said on Monday it had arrested Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 22, in a raid in her West Bank town of Nabi Salih on suspicion of "inciting violence and terrorist activities".

Overall, the army said more than 1,350 Palestinians had been arrested across the West Bank since Oct.7, with "over 850 of them affiliated with Hamas."

Tamimi became prominent at age 14 when she was filmed biting an Israeli soldier to prevent him from arresting her younger brother, and for later slapping another Israeli soldier.

A large portrait of her was painted on the Israeli separation wall with the West Bank.

When AFP asked about the reasons for her arrest, a security source forwarded an Instagram post, which has circulated widely and is attributed to the young activist.

According to the post, written in Arabic and Hebrew, she called for the massacre of Israelis in explicitly violent terms, referring to Hitler.

Her mother, Narimane Tamimi, denied that she wrote the post and added that "when Ahed tries to open a social media account, it's immediately blocked".

With her mane of curly hair and piercing eyes Ahed Tamimi, arrested on Monday for allegedly inciting violence and terrorism, is for Palestinians and their supporters an icon of resistance to Israeli occupation.

Images of the now 22-year-old's defiance have been beamed across the world for over a decade: aged 11 brandishing her fist under the nose of Israeli soldiers, aged 14 fighting to free a detained boy, aged 16 in prisoner's clothing surrounded by Israeli police.

Her family home in Nabi Salih in the north of the West Bank -- territory occupied by Israel since 1967 -- is a hotbed for Palestinian and foreign activists organising against raids by Israeli forces and settlers.

Her arrest is the latest turn in a war over the campaigning of the young activist who spent eight months in an Israeli prison in 2018.

"Every word I say, it's a weight, a responsibility, and so it's something heavy that I carry," she told reporters in France in 2018.

Her activism earned her a reception by Real Madrid that year.

But the Israeli press has dismissed her as "a provocateur who knows how to publicise her actions" and her family have been accused of exploiting her for political means.

In mobile phone footage filmed in December 2017 she is seen with her cousin approaching two soldiers her family said were trespassing in their house before kicking, punching and slapping them.

She was also photographed while wearing a Tweety Pie shirt and biting the hand of an Israeli soldier in 2015, trying to stop the arrest of her brother.

In 2012, images of her brandishing her fist under the nose of Israeli soldiers earned her a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Born in 2001 in Nabi Salih, she said she dreamed of becoming a footballer before being drawn into activism.

Her father Bassem Tamimi described his daughter as "shy", but "someone who is mature enough to reject the occupation responsibly".

He said his daughter was marked by stories of incursions and arrests by Israeli forces, and that the family had several "martyrs", including Ahed's uncle and aunt.

Following her arrest on Monday social media, particularly in Arab countries, was once again flooded with images of the young activist.

Agence France-Presse