‘Israel’ deports British activist after settlers abduct him

• Finn Joughin’s deportation follows his abduction by armed settlers and his arrest by ‘Israeli’ forces.

British student Finn Joughin, 22, has been deported to the United Kingdom and barred from returning to ‘Israel’ for 10 years after being abducted at gunpoint by armed 'Israeli' settlers while protecting Palestinian children in the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair.

Joughin was working in Masafer Yatta as an international volunteer with the Proactive Presence initiative, a movement that places international observers in vulnerable Palestinian communities to document and deter systemic attacks by settlers and ‘Israeli’ forces. 

Abducted at gunpoint

The incident occurred on Aug. 29, when a group of young settlers attempted to take over a children's football pitch in Umm al-Khair and forcibly break through the gates of a local Palestinian family's home. 

When Joughin used his body to block settlers from tearing down a village boundary fence, adult settlers assaulted him, placing him in a chokehold and twisting his arm behind his back.

Social media footage documented armed settlers holding Joughin captive at gunpoint and dragging him to a concrete shed in the nearby settlement outpost of Carmel.

Footage shows Israeli settlers abducting British activist Finn Joughlin in front of cameras in Umm Al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, after he intervened to protect Palestinian children during a settler attack. pic.twitter.com/5rQXf9szdV

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 30, 2026

"I was placed in what I’d call a concrete shed, which I was later told was a bomb shelter. They took my phone and wallet off me. They demanded to see my passport," Joughin recalled. "They were kind of making accusations at me."

After being held hostage by armed settlers for roughly 30 minutes, Joughin was handed over to 'Israeli' forces and taken to a police station in the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron, where he was formally arrested.

"When I told soldiers that I had been kidnapped by settlers, I was insulted, shouted at, and spat at," Joughin stated. "This was my first realization that the Israeli police and military were going to be no less cordial or sympathetic to my situation than the settlers themselves." 

Following a hearing at the magistrate's court in occupied Jerusalem, Joughin was transferred to an immigration detention center near Ben Gurion Airport. 

Under threat of prolonged indefinite detention, he was forced to sign deportation papers waiving his right to appeal, resulting in his expulsion to Britain on Aug. 31.

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