Waed’s father claims the arrest of his 21-year-old son is an attempt to exert more pressure on the Nabi Saleh family.
Israeli forces detained Waed Tamimi, the brother of imprisoned Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, the family told Middle East Eye on Thursday.
According to Waed’s father, Bassem Tamimi, a dozen soldiers raided the family’s home at around 5am on Thursday morning, surrounding the house before taking 21-year-old Waed away in an army jeep.
As of early Thursday afternoon, Tamimi said, he had no idea of his eldest son’s whereabouts, nor of why Waed was detained.
“This is the policy of the occupation,” he told MEE, adding that he thought his son had been detained to apply further pressure on his family.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed to MEE that Waed Tamimi had been detained, adding that the young man had been held for “suspected involvement in popular terror acts”.
When asked to clarify the meaning of “popular terror acts”, the spokesperson said this included “violent riots” – the Israeli army’s term for Palestinian demonstrations.
Following Waed’s arrest, half of the Tamimi family is currently in prison. Bassem Tamimi and his youngest sons 14- and 12-year-old Mohammed and Salem are the only ones left in the family home in the small village north of Ramallah, while Waed joins his sister Ahed and their mother Nariman in Israeli custody.
Source: Middle East Eye
