Israel jails Palestinian woman over Facebook 'incitement'

Majd Yusif Atwan was also ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 shekels ($794), according to Jamil Saadah, a lawyer for the Palestinian Authority's committee for prisoners' affairs.

The court had decided to release Atwan after more than two weeks in detention, but the military prosecution appealed the decision, extending the young woman's imprisonment to 45 days.

The 22-year-old woman from the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem was initially arrested from her home on 19 April.

Israel has detained scores of Palestinians in recent months over social media activity, claiming that a wave of unrest that has swept through the occupied Palestinian territory since October was encouraged largely by "incitement".

Palestinians have instead blamed the violence on frustration and despair brought on by Israel's nearly 50-year military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political solution.

More than 200 Palestinians and almost 30 Israelis have been killed since October, although the number of deaths saw a dramatic drop over the last two months, with Israel suggesting its severe security measures were responsible for the emerging trend.

However, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found in a poll last month that support for stabbing attacks had seen a decline in the West Bank in recent months - "due, it seems, to a rising perception in its inefficacy".

Atwan joins an estimated 7,000 Palestinians currently held inside Israeli prisons, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.