RAMALLAH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received and rewarded Ahed Tamimi and her mother on Sunday hours after their release from Israeli jail.
Abbas described the 17-year-old girl as a model for popular resistance and struggle for freedom, reiterating his support for non-violent resistance as a vital weapon in facing the Israeli occupation, according to the official Palestinian news agency.
Tamimi and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, were released from Israeli jail Sunday morning after eight months.
She was arrested on Dec. 19, four days after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier at the entrance of her home emerged and went viral on the internet.
Upon her release, Ahed Tamimi said her real happiness would be fulfilled once the remaining female inmates in Israeli jails are freed.
Her father, Bassem Tamimi, told Xinhua that he "feels happy today" as a father, promising "that the message and actions of peaceful resistance against the occupation will continue despite what the Israelis are trying to do to destroy our happiness."
Official Palestinian sources said that around 300 children are currently detained in Israeli jails, most of whom were trialed in military courts.
Tamimi's case drew wide public attention, especially to procedures of the Israeli military court system, which is often described by right groups as discriminatory.
Amnesty International, a global movement campaigning to end abuse of human rights, has called for Tamimi's release and accused Israel of "discriminatory treatment of Palestinian children."
Tamimi's mother, who took the video of her daughter and her cousins slapping the soldier, was also arrested on Dec. 20, 2017 and accused of incitement.
The Tamimi family and dozens of others from Nabil Saleh village near Ramallah have been engaged in weekly peaceful protests against Israeli settlement expansion and land seizure in their village.
