A prominent Palestinian activist has been detained by Israeli troops over an Instagram post which her family says was faked.

Ahed Tamimi, 22, became a Palestinian icon after she was jailed as a teenager for slapping an Israeli solider who shot her cousin in the head.

She was arrested during an overnight raid on her home in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said she was arrested on suspicion on “inciting violence and calling for terrorist activity to be carried out”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

It comes after an Instagram post was published in her name calling for the “slaughter” of Israeli West Bank settlers.

However, Ms Tamimi’s family said she does not have an Instagram account and the post was a fake.

The post is no longer visible online, nor is the account carrying Ms Tamimi’s name and photo where it was published last week.

Her mother, Nariman Tamimi, said more than a dozen Israeli soldiers entered their house in Nabi Saleh village on Monday, ransacked their possessions and then took her daughter away.

She said Israeli forces had accused Ms Tamimi of “calling for the killing of settlers and saying what Hitler did wasn’t enough – but Ahed does not have an Instagram account”.

Supporters have claimed the online post was an excuse to arrest the activist and crackdown on dissent while the world is distracted by the conflict in Gaza.

Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir congratulated security forces for arresting Ms Tamimi, who he described as a “terrorist” on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read more from Sky News:
Lebanon minister ‘less pessimistic’ about war spreading
Family of girl, 8, feared dead in attack given hope
What videos tell us about the number of dead in Gaza

It comes after her father, Bassem Tamimi, was reportedly arrested by Israeli forces last week.

Relatives have said they have been given no information about the whereabouts of either of their family members.

Related posts:

‘Hope is returning’: Ireland’s PM set out key dates for lifting lockdown Tennis star Naomi Osaka pulls out of French Open after fine for skipping news conferences Peru’s COVID death toll more than doubles to over 180,000 following official review N Korea reveals it tested hypersonic missile that travels ‘five times faster than speed of sound’ Putin has ‘achieved zero’ and Ukraine can ‘absolutely’ win war, says US North Korea announces first COVID death with 350,000 treated for fever spreading ‘explosively’ UN chief says Russia must leave nuclear plant – and warns against stealing Ukrainian power Giorgia Meloni weathered the electoral storm – but what is top of her to-do list? Vatican reopens investigation into missing teenager after Netflix documentary More than 11,000 confirmed dead in Turkey and Syria in deadliest earthquake in over a decade More than three quarters of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population flees to Armenia Ryder Cup live: Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm feature for Europe against USA