British activist handed over to police by armed settlers in West Bank

The UK has demanded answers from Israel over the arrest of a British activist by settlers in the West Bank. Finn Joughin, 22, faces deportation after performing what is known as a protective presence for a Palestinian community in Umm al-Khair, south of Hebron, on Saturday, when he was dragged off by armed settlers and handed over to the police. Protective presence activists, many of whom are Israeli, as well as some foreigners, try to deter settler attacks by placing themselves in high-risk areas and filming intruders. Footage from an incursion on Saturday shows Mr Joughin using his body to try to stop a settler child from passing between him and a wall. Israeli police subsequently said he was being investigated after a settler filed a complaint alleging he had committed an indecent act against a minor. Mr Joughin was set to be deported on Monday. Activists claiming to be witnesses described Palestinian children playing football when children from settler families started to intervene. They then reportedly ran to a Palestinian house and started to dismantle a fence. Probing or actively trying to take down fences is commonly an initial tactic used by settlers. Inbar Shaked Vardi, his lawyer, categorically denied the allegation and accused the police of using deportation as a tactic to remove activists from the West Bank. A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Officials from the British embassy in Tel Aviv have raised the case with the Israeli authorities and are seeking further information.” Mr Joughin was filmed being led away by at least three armed settlers. Ms Vardi said he was locked in a shed for 30 minutes before being handed over to police. It is not thought that anyone else was detained for questioning. Young children are often in the vanguard of settler attacks in the West Bank, many of which emanate from outposts constructed close to Palestinian homes and are illegal under Israeli law. Settlements themselves are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. “Police use deportation in order to get what they want – which is to get activists outside of the West Bank while continuing to allow settlers to do what they do,” said Ms Vardi. Earlier this year, the UN said that 38 Palestinian communities had been emptied of their populations since 2023, amid a rise in settler violence. Between January and June this year, 2,200 Palestinians were displaced after attacks affecting 230 different communities, with hundreds more looking for shelter because of demolitions sanctioned by the authorities. Saturday’s incident in the south of the West Bank happened as parts of the town of Qusra, near Nablus, remained surrounded by settlers, more than three weeks after troops moved in supposedly to remove them. The so-called “siege of Qusra” garnered international headlines after Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, a staunch supporter of the settler project, criticised the situation when it emerged that some of the property affected was owned by a US citizen. A further attack by settlers in the village took place on Saturday, but no arrests had been made as of Monday, it was reported. On Saturday, Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, condemned the situation, describing it as a “direct and flagrant defiance of the laws and values of the State of Israel”. “It is also another incident in a disturbing sequence of events that casts a stain on Israel’s image and demands firm and decisive action,” he said. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who includes ultra-nationalist settlers in his coalition, also issued a rare criticism after a US TV reporter was assaulted by settlers while reporting in the West Bank.