GAZAinfo-icon:- Israeli forces have arrested two Italians for drawing a giant mural of a Palestinian teenager seen as a symbol of resistance on the separation wall in the occupied West Bank, police said.

The roughly four-meter image near Bethlehem in the West Bank depicts Ahed Tamimi, 17, who was released from prison yesterday after serving an eight-month sentence for slapping two Israeli soldiers. The episode was captured on video.

Israeli border police arrested two Italians and a Palestinian on Saturday "on suspicion of damaging and vandalizing the security fence in the Bethlehem area," a police statement said.

The three, whose faces were masked, "illegally drew on the wall, and when border policemen took action to arrest them, they tried to escape in their car, which was stopped by the forces," police said.

Palestinians see Tamimi as a symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation of the West Bank, while Israelis say Tamimi is being used by her activist family as a pawn in staged provocations.