Israel extends detention of Ahd al-Tamimi, Palestinian teen activist who 'insulted' IDF soldiers

Israel extended the custody of Palestinian Ahd al-Tamimi, her mother and cousin on Monday, who were detained after a viral video of an alleged assault on Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, the police said.

They said the Ofer military court ruled that Ahd al-Tamimi, 17, her mother Nariman al-Tamimi, 43 and her cousin Nour Naji al-Tamimi, 21, would remain in custody until Thursday.

All three women appeared in a video that went viral that showed Ahd slapping an Israeli soldier, after he stormed into her house and shot fifteen year old Mohammed al-Tamimi.

The footage shows Nour and Ahd approaching two Israeli soldiers before shoving, kicking and slapping them while filming on mobile phones.

A second video shows the two cousins telling the soldiers, apparently standing on the stairs of the family home, to leave.

The Tamimi family are at the forefront of regular protests in Nabi Saleh, a frequent scene of demonstrations against Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

They say a member of the family was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during protests on December 15.

Residents say part of the village's land was confiscated by Israeli authorities and given to a nearby Israeli settlement.

The videos of the alleged assault were widely picked up by Israeli media outlets, which often accuse Palestinian protesters of provoking the army into responses which are then filmed.

In Israel, the soldiers' decision not to react to the seeming provocation by Ahd al-Tamimi, a blonde firebrand, has stirred a debate about deterrence and drawn allegations that the army was humiliated.

Meanwhile, Palestinians celebrated Ahd as a hero in widely distributed cartoons. In one, she is shown in a Joan of Arc-like pose, raising a Palestinian flag, framed by her easily recognizable mane of blonde curls.

The sharply conflicting Palestinian and Israeli interpretations of the widely viewed video clip highlight the deep rift between the two societies, at a time of heightened tension over the status of contested Jerusalem, the centrepiece of the long-running conflict.

Ahd has made headlines in the past, including in 2015 when she bit the hand of a masked Israeli soldier who was holding her now 14-year-old brother Mohammed in a chokehold during an attempted arrest. A video of the incident was widely watched, earning her an invitation to meet with the Turkish president.