TEL AVIV — The Israeli army announced on Monday it had arrested Ahed Tamimi, an icon of the Palestinian cause around the world, during a raid in the occupied West Bank.

A spokesperson for the army said the 22-year-old activist was "suspected of inciting violence and terrorist activities."

Tamimi was apprehended in the town of Nabi Saleh and "transferred to Israeli security forces for further questioning," they told AFP.

Ahed Tamimi became famous at 14, filmed biting an Israeli soldier to prevent him from arresting her little brother, who was pinned to the ground and had his arm in a cast.

She has since become a global icon of the Palestinian cause and is seen by Palestinians as an example of courage in the face of Israeli repression in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A giant portrait of her was also painted on the Israeli separation wall in the occupied West Bank, in the Bethlehem sector.

Since the start of the war in October, Israel has severely cracked down on dissent in the West Bank, arresting and detaining Palestinians on mass.

In Israel itself, the government has ramped up repression of domestic criticism of the war, with activists, academics and citizens subjected to doxxing, job terminations, threats and arrests.

The crackdown on dissent in the occupied West Bank has accompanied an upsurge in violence -- already at fever pitch -- involving Israeli settler attacks on civilians and deadly raids by Israel's security forces.

Some 150 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by fire from Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. — Euronews