UK Raises Detention of British Student Activist by Israeli Authorities

The UK Foreign Office says it has raised with Israeli authorities the detention of British national Finn Joughin, a 22-year-old student activist who was arrested in the occupied West Bank after being forcibly detained by Israeli settlers.

Joughin was detained on Saturday in Umm Al-Kheir, near Hebron, after settlers advanced on the Palestinian village. Witnesses said Palestinian children were playing football when children from settler families intervened before running to a nearby house and beginning to dismantle a fence.

Footage shared online and reviewed by the BBC reportedly shows Joughin standing near the fence and attempting to protect it with his body as a child pushes against him. Witnesses said settlers subsequently removed him by force and took the London-based student to an outpost.

The incident comes amid a reported increase in settler attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since the Gaza war began following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, while settler outposts are also illegal under Israeli law despite receiving state services and funding.