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UK Seeks Answers as Israel Deports Detained Activist
(MENAFN) Israel has ordered the deportation of a British activist who was seized by armed Israeli occupiers in the southern occupied West Bank and detained against his will before being handed over to police, an Israeli newspaper reported Sunday.
The Israeli daily cited lawyer Inbar Shaked Vardi as saying Finn Joughin was taken Saturday from the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair in Masafer Yatta and locked inside a shed for roughly half an hour.
Israeli police initially moved to extend his detention Sunday but later withdrew the request and ordered his immediate deportation, according to the report.
Vardi said Joughin had been participating in a protective presence initiative and was attempting to safeguard Palestinian property when armed occupiers assaulted and detained him.
"Despite clear documentation of the assault, Israel police chose to arrest the activist," she said, adding that, to her knowledge, the attackers were not questioned.
The newspaper said police opened an investigation into Joughin after an Israeli occupier filed a complaint accusing him of committing an indecent act against a minor. Vardi firmly rejected the allegation, saying footage circulating online showed her client attempting to protect the village during the confrontation.
An Israeli solidarity group active in the South Hebron Hills said occupiers had been harassing Palestinians in the area and trying to confiscate cameras and phones from people documenting the incident. The group said Joughin was grabbed and dragged away without provocation or resistance.
The British government has sought information from Israeli authorities about the case, the newspaper reported. A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said officials at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv had raised the matter with Israeli authorities and were seeking further details.
The occupied West Bank has seen a dramatic surge in Israeli military activity, alongside attacks by Israeli occupiers, since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The escalation has been accompanied by the expansion of illegal Israeli settlement outposts throughout the West Bank and tightening restrictions on the movement of Palestinian residents.
The Israeli daily cited lawyer Inbar Shaked Vardi as saying Finn Joughin was taken Saturday from the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair in Masafer Yatta and locked inside a shed for roughly half an hour.
Israeli police initially moved to extend his detention Sunday but later withdrew the request and ordered his immediate deportation, according to the report.
Vardi said Joughin had been participating in a protective presence initiative and was attempting to safeguard Palestinian property when armed occupiers assaulted and detained him.
"Despite clear documentation of the assault, Israel police chose to arrest the activist," she said, adding that, to her knowledge, the attackers were not questioned.
The newspaper said police opened an investigation into Joughin after an Israeli occupier filed a complaint accusing him of committing an indecent act against a minor. Vardi firmly rejected the allegation, saying footage circulating online showed her client attempting to protect the village during the confrontation.
An Israeli solidarity group active in the South Hebron Hills said occupiers had been harassing Palestinians in the area and trying to confiscate cameras and phones from people documenting the incident. The group said Joughin was grabbed and dragged away without provocation or resistance.
The British government has sought information from Israeli authorities about the case, the newspaper reported. A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said officials at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv had raised the matter with Israeli authorities and were seeking further details.
The occupied West Bank has seen a dramatic surge in Israeli military activity, alongside attacks by Israeli occupiers, since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The escalation has been accompanied by the expansion of illegal Israeli settlement outposts throughout the West Bank and tightening restrictions on the movement of Palestinian residents.
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