Israeli court extends remand of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi

An Israeli military court on Monday ordered that Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi be held in custody for at least another two days.

Tamimi, 16, was charged on 1 January with 12 counts, including assault, for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers near her home in the occupied West Bank. 

Hailed as a hero by Palestinians who see her as bravely standing up to Israel in the 15 December incident caught on video, she could face a lengthy jail term if convicted.

The Israeli court ordered that Tamimi be detained until Wednesday to allow the court time to decide whether she should be allowed out on bail ahead of her trial.

Prosecutors are seeking to have her kept in custody until her trial ends.

Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky argued in court that her continued detention violates international conventions since she is a minor.

The charges relate to events in the video and five other incidents. They include stone-throwing, incitement and making threats.

Her mother Nariman has also been arrested over the incident, as has her cousin Nour Tamimi, 20.

Nour Tamimi was released on bail on 5 January while Nariman Tamimi remains in custody.

Ahed Tamimi's family says the 15 December incident that led to the arrests occurred in the yard of their home in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's military said the soldiers were in the area to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists.

A video shows the cousins approaching two soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them.

The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them.

They then move backwards after Nariman Tamimi becomes involved.

The scuffle took place amid clashes and protests against US President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Relatives say that a member of the Tamimi family was wounded in the head by a rubber bullet fired during those protests.

Seventeen Palestinians have been killed since Trump's declaration on 6 December, most of them in clashes with Israeli forces. One Israeli has been shot dead since then.

Ahed Tamimi, arrested in the early hours of 19 December, has been involved in a series of previous incidents, with older pictures of her confronting soldiers widely published.

She has become something of an icon for Palestinians who have flooded social media with praise and support.