BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police on Thursday arrested a Palestinian accused of raping an Israeli teenager near Tel Aviv, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday.

Rosenfeld told Ma'an that a 16-year-old girl reported to police that she had been raped. Police searched the area and arrested a Palestinian who matched the description she had given, he added.

The suspect will be charged with rape, Rosenfeld said, adding that police were conducting tests to establish his connection to the attack.

The Israeli news site Ynet said the unnamed Palestinian admitted to encountering the girl, but denied the charge of rape and said he helped her after she fell from her bicycle.