RAMALLAH, July 29, 2018 (WAFA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday phoned 17-year-old Palestinian resistance icon Ahed Tamim and congratulated her on her release from Israeli jails after serving an eight-month sentence for slapping an armed Israeli soldier who invaded her home in Nabi Saleh Viilage, near Ramallah, in the occupied West bank, said sources at the Turkish presidency.

Ahed and her mother, Nariman, who served the same time for posting on social media the video showing Ahed slapping the soldier, were released on Sunday. 

According to the Turkish Anadolu news agency, Erdogan  praised Tamimi for her ‘bravery and determination to fight’.

In 2012, Istanbul’s Basaksehir Municipality granted al-Tamimi the prestigious Hanzala Courage Award for defying Israeli soldiers after she was photographed showing her tiny fists to the occupying forces, read the Turkish news agency on its official website.

Erdogan reportedly assured the Tamimi family that Turkey’s support for Palestine’s just sruggle would continue.

Ahed was arrested on December 19, 2017 after a video went viral on the internet showing her and her cousin slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier while trying to shoot at protesters in Ahed’s hometown of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank.

T.R.