Palestinian Woman Released on Bail after Slapping Israeli Soldier

Nour Tamimi and her aunt Nariman appear before an Israeli court. (AFP)
Nour Tamimi and her aunt Nariman appear before an Israeli court. (AFP)
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Palestinian Woman Released on Bail after Slapping Israeli Soldier

Nour Tamimi and her aunt Nariman appear before an Israeli court. (AFP)
Nour Tamimi and her aunt Nariman appear before an Israeli court. (AFP)

A Palestinian woman was released on bail on Friday after she was charged with assaulting an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank following a viral video of the incident.

Nour Tamimi, 20, was released early on Friday from a military prison after a court rejected the prosecution's appeal against her release, her father Naji Tamimi told AFP.

The military appeals court ruled Nour would also have to sign in at an Israeli police station every Friday at noon.

On Sunday, a military court charged Nour with aggravated assault of a soldier and disturbing soldiers carry out their duties.

Her cousin Ahed Tamimi, 16, and Ahed's mother Nariman Tamimi remain in custody, after they were also charged following the video of the cousins slapping and kicking two soldiers last month.

Nour was allowed to return to her home in the village of Nabi Saleh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after posting a bail of 5,000 shekels ($1,450, 1,200 euros).

A guarantor vouched she would show up for her court proceedings, set to begin on February 12, her lawyer Gaby Lasky told AFP.

Ahed's family says the December 15 incident that led to the charges occurred in the yard of their home in Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.

Israel's military said the soldiers were in the area to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli motorists nearby.

A video that was shared widely on social media shows the cousins approaching two Israeli soldiers and telling them to leave before shoving, kicking and slapping them.

The heavily armed soldiers do not respond in the face of what appears to be an attempt to provoke rather than seriously harm them.

They then move backwards after Ahed's mother Nariman becomes involved.

On Monday, Ahed was charged with 12 counts, including assault. Her mother faces five charges, including incitement.

Ahed has been lauded as a hero by Palestinians who see her as bravely standing up to Israel's 50-year occupation of the West Bank.

She has been involved in a series of previous confrontations, leading Israelis to accuse her family of using her as a pawn in staged provocations.

Palestinians however say she is engaged in legitimate resistance.

Ahed and her mother are to remain in custody until at least Monday, when they will face another hearing.

Israel's military on Wednesday that Ahed could face up to 14 years in prison after being indicted for allegedly assaulting Israeli soldiers.

Her lawyer said she doubts such a sentence is likely. She said sentencing for such an offense is usually "much, much lighter."



7 Killed in Drone Strike on Hospital in Sudan's Kordofan

A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
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7 Killed in Drone Strike on Hospital in Sudan's Kordofan

A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)
A Sudanese man rides his decorated bicycle as others (unseen) rally in support of the Sudanese armed forces. (Photo by Ebrahim Hamid / AFP)

A drone strike Sunday on an army hospital in the besieged southern Sudan city of Dilling left "seven civilians dead and 12 injured", a health worker at the facility told AFP.

The victims included patients and their companions, the medic said on condition of anonymity, explaining that the army hospital "serves the residents of the city and its surroundings, in addition to military personnel".

Dilling, in the flashpoint state of South Kordofan, is controlled by the Sudanese army but is besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The greater Kordofan region is currently facing the fiercest fighting in Sudan's war between the army and the RSF, as both seek to wrest control of the massive southern region.

The UN has repeatedly warned the region is in danger of witnessing a repeat of the atrocities that unfolded in North Darfur state capital El-Fasher, including mass killing, abductions and sexual violence.


Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
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Iraq's Election Result Ratified by Supreme Federal Court as Premiership Remains up for Grabs

Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Election workers gather parliamentary election ballots after the polls closed in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

The result of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court on Sunday, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term.

The court confirmed that the voting process met all constitutional and legal requirements and had no irregularities affecting its validity.

The Independent High Electoral Commission submitted the final results of the legislative elections to the Supreme Federal Court on Monday for official certification after resolving 853 complaints submitted regarding the election results, according to The AP news.

Al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition won 46 seats in the 329-seat parliament. However, in past elections in Iraq, the bloc taking the largest number of seats has often been unable to impose its preferred candidate.

The coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won 29 seats, the Sadiqoun Bloc, which is led by the leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, Qais al-Khazali, won 28 seats, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, one of the two main Kurdish parties in the country, won 27 seats.

The Taqaddum (Progress) party of ousted former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also won 27 seats, setting the stage for a contest over the speaker's role.

 


Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Confirms the Death of a Top Commander in Gaza after Israeli Strike

Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City.

The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization” in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago, The AP news reported.

Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.

Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details.

Saturday's strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one.

Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.

Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line” between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory.

Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision.

Israel’s two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,660 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.