Ahed Tamimi's Brother Arrested by Israeli Army in Dawn Raid

Waed Tamimi, the brother of Palestinian teen and activist Ahed Tamimi, who has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance, was arrested Wednesday night by Israeli forces during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

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A dozen Israeli soldiers raided the Tamimi's home around 5:00 a.m. local time Thursday and took Waed away. Night raids by Israeli occupation forces are common in Nabi Saleh -and the rest of the West Bank-, and several members of the Tamimi family have been arrested in these operations, including Ahed herself.

“This is the policy of the occupation,” Waed's father, Bassem Tamimi, told Middle East Eye after his arrest. The father still doesn't know the whereabouts of his son, and thinks he was arrested as a form of intimidation.

A spokesperson of Israeli occupation forces told MEE that the 21-year-old Waed was arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terror acts,” including “violent riots,” without further specification.

Ahed was charged with aggravated assault, obstructing the work of soldiers, and incitement, among other charges on Jan. 2. She was arrested on Dec. 19 after a video of her slapping two Israeli soldiers outside her home in Nabi Saleh in mid-December went viral. A day earlier, Ahed's cousin Mohammed Tamimi was shot in the head and has undergone several surgeries since then.

Ahed is currently serving an eight-month jail sentence in the Ofer military camp near Ramallah, after reaching a plea bargain deal with military prosecutors on March. Her mother Nariman was also arrested and charged for doing a live transmission on the incident, which became viral.

Following Waed's arrest, the only members of the Tamimi family out of Israeli prison are the father Bassem and his 14 and 12-year-old sons Mohammed and Salem. 

The Israeli occupation has been actively persecuting the family for decades over their weekly protests against the theft of their lands in favor of the illegal Jewish settlement of Halamish near their villages. Several members of the family have been detained and killed over the years.

According to Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners' human rights group, about 6,036 Palestinians are being held in occupation prisons up to April 2018.