A Palestinian man was arrested in Scotland on terrorism charges related to his alleged involvement with an Irish nationalist group, British media outlets reported this week, though his lawyers claim he was entrapped.

A man from Northern Ireland is accused of recruiting a Palestinian doctor living in Scotland to help an Irish Republican Army (IRA) group cultivate relations with governments “hostile to the UK,” the Belfast Telegraph reported on Tuesday. Their arrests are part of a British intelligence operation against the Irish organization.

Several Irish nationalist groups use the name of the IRA. One of their goals is ending British rule in northern Ireland. This area is part of the United Kingdom and separate from the Republic of Ireland, which encompasses the rest of the Irish isle. The IRA, along with British forces and militias loyal to the UK, were responsible for considerable violence during the conflict known as "The Troubles" that ended in 1998.

Many Irish nationalists sympathize with the Palestinian cause. Some Irish republicans, as they are also known, believe Palestinians fight an anti-colonial struggle against Israel similar to that of the Irish against the UK. In 2018, the Irish Senate passed a bill banning imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.