JERUSALEM: The trial of Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi before an Israeli military court has been postponed for a week and is now scheduled to begin on Feb. 13.
Tamimi, who turned 17 in prison last week, was charged with assault and incitement after she slapped and punched two Israeli soldiers in her West Bank village in December.
The incident was captured on video and widely shared online.
Ahed's supporters say it symbolizes the Palestinians' David vs. Goliath struggle against Israel's decades-long military occupation. Israel has portrayed her actions as a staged provocation meant to embarrass the army.
Defense lawyer Gaby Lasky said Sunday that the trial, which was set to begin Tuesday, was delayed because the prosecution was slow in sharing evidence.
The Israeli military confirmed the new starting date.
The military last week confirmed the date had been changed to Feb. 6, adding it was postponed at Lasky's request.
Both Ahed Tamimi and her mother have been ordered to be held in custody throughout their trial.
Ahed Tamimi's cousin Nour Tamimi, 20, has also been charged in connection with the case, but was freed on bail on January 5. Her next court appearance has been set for February 12, Lasky said.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has criticised Israeli authorities' actions in the case, while the European Union has expressed concern over Israel's detention of minors, including Ahed Tamimi.
Ahed Tamimi has been hailed as a hero by Palestinians who see her as bravely standing up to Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
Israelis accuse her family of using her as a pawn in staged provocations.
She has been charged with 12 counts including assault and could face a lengthy jail term if convicted.
The charges relate to events in the video and five other incidents. They include stone-throwing, incitement and making threats.
Ahed Tamimi's family says the December 15 incident that led to the arrests occurred in the yard of their home in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah in the 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.
Ahed Tamimi is the most aggressive of the two in the video.
The heavily armed soldiers do not respond to 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.
Eighteen Palestinians have been killed since Trump's declaration on Dec. 6, most of them in clashes with Israeli forces. One Israeli has been shot dead since then.
Ahed Tamimi 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.
Trial of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi postponed to Feb. 13
Trial of Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi postponed to Feb. 13
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
