Israeli Border Police on Saturday arrested two Italian graffiti artists who were painting a mural on the security barrier separating Israel from the West Bank, featuring Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teenage girl who served 8 months in prison for striking an Israeli soldier, Palestinian officials reported Saturday.
The Palestine Liberation Organization posted on Twitter that Israeli forces had arrested the two Italian artists as well as a Palestinian who was with them.
An Israel Police spokesman did not return a call for comment.
The security barrier has become a focal point for Palestinian protest art. Last week, a local activist told Reuters he was surprised by the number of foreign artists who have come to the the West Bank to paint images of Tamimi, whom he called "the icon of the Palestinian people and the icon of national resistance," on the wall.
Tamimi, now 17, was sent to prison for assault after being filmed kicking and hitting an IDF soldier late last year, when she was 16.
Troops had deployed in her village of Nabi Saleh to keep order during weekly anti-settlement protests. Tamimi's mother livestreamed the incident on Facebook. It went viral, and the teen was lauded as a heroine.
Tamimi's trial began in February, 2018, and she faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault. In a closely followed trial in an Israeli military court, she was sentenced to eight months behind bars after a plea bargain agreement.
Tamimi was released on Sunday upon completing her sentence. Her time in detention following her arrest and during her trial was factored into the 8 months she was sentenced to serve in jail.
