UK raises case of British activist detained by settlers in West Bank with Israel

The UK Foreign Office says it has raised the detention of a British national in the occupied West Bank with Israeli authorities.

Finn Joughin, a 22-year-old student activist, was arrested in Umm Al-Kheir on Saturday after he was forcibly detained by Israeli settlers who had advanced on the Palestinian village.

There has been a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

All settlements are illegal under international law. Outposts are also illegal under Israeli law, although they are often supported by state services and funding.

The confrontation on Saturday took place in a town near Hebron that has been recently surrounded by settlers.

According to other activists who witnessed what happened, Palestinian children were playing football when children from settler families started intervening. They then ran to a house and started to dismantle a fence.

Footage posted online by both settlers and activists and seen by the BBC appears to show Joughin standing by the fence and trying to protect it using his body as a child pushes against him.

Settlers removed Joughin forcefully and took the London-based student to an outpost.

Israeli police said a foreign national was detained by security personnel of a settler community who suspected him of an indecent act against a minor.

In a later statement on Sunday, they said: "The suspect was transferred to the police for questioning, which included, among other things, taking statements that raised suspicion of an assault against a minor.

"Following his questioning, the suspect was taken into custody, and the investigation into the incident remains ongoing."

However, Joughin's family told the BBC he was due to be deported from Israel on Monday.

Activists who were with Joughin at the time deny there was any inappropriate behaviour.

"In every single instance, it was the settler kids who approached Finn," fellow activist Matthew, who declined to give his surname, told the BBC.

The Foreign Office confirmed to the BBC that it was aware of the incident.

"Officials from the British embassy [in] Tel Aviv have raised the case with the Israeli authorities and are seeking further information," a spokesperson said.

Violence over the weekend across several areas of the occupied West Bank even prompted condemnation from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who accused settlers of harming Israel's standing in the world. President Isaac Herzog called it the "crossing of a red line".

In addition to the incident at Umm Al-Kheir, dozens of settlers attacked the West Bank village of Qusra on Saturday before the military was called to remove them. Foreign journalists were also injured by masked settlers in an attack in the West Bank town of Jalud.

"The half-million Israelis living peacefully … are most disgusted by a small group of thugs," said US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee who welcomed the Israeli leaders' condemnation.