// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
UK raises case of British activist detained by settlers in West Bank with Israel
Finn Joughin, the student activist arrested in Umm Al-Kheir on Saturday
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.