US lawmaker Ro Khanna detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles in West Bank? What he said

US Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna said he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank this week, describing the incident as a firsthand glimpse into the human impact of the Israeli occupation as he considers a possible run for the presidency in 2028.

Khanna told Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village that the incident occurred a day earlier when the van carrying his delegation was surrounded by settlers armed with M4 rifles while touring an area in the southern West Bank where Palestinian residents reportedly endure settler violence.

Khanna, a progressive Democratic lawmaker from California, said he and his delegation were visiting a Palestinian village that he alleged had been destroyed by Israeli settlers.

"We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it," he said.

Describing the incident, Khanna added, "And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans," referring to the Israeli military.

Cameron Kasky, an aide accompanying Khanna, said the group was held for more than an hour and sought assistance from the US Embassy in Jerusalem. According to Kasky, officers who appeared to be police later intervened, after which the group was allowed to leave.

Responding to the incident, the Israeli military said its troops and police officers were dispatched after receiving reports that settlers had blocked vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forcibly displaced following violent settler raids after the 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

"Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way," the military mentioned.

Neither the Israeli police nor the US Embassy in Jerusalem immediately responded to requests for comment on the incident, as per Reuters.

Khanna is the second prominent Democrat weighing a White House bid to visit the region this week. Earlier, Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to former President Barack Obama, said in Tel Aviv that Israel's policies towards Palestinians were weakening support for the US-Israel alliance.

When asked whether he planned to run for president, Khanna replied, "I'm strongly considering it and I'm more resolved to consider it after this trip."

Israel's favourability rating among Democrats fell, says poll

Israel's treatment of Palestinians has become a key issue within the Democratic Party ahead of the November US midterm elections. The issue has also played a role in primary defeats for some incumbent lawmakers who were challenged by left-wing candidates over their support for Israel's right-wing government.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, Israel's favourability rating among Democratic voters declined from 59 per cent in 2018 to 22 per cent in May.

Although Israel has traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the United States, a growing number of Democratic lawmakers are calling for an end to the country's annual $3.8 billion in US military assistance, which includes funding for equipment such as M4 rifles and missile interceptors used by Israel during the conflict with Iran.

Speaking from the outskirts of Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian village with a large population of Palestinian American dual nationals, Khanna said he believed the Democratic Party establishment was “clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become”.

He mentioned he deliberately limited his visit to the occupied West Bank, with the itinerary organised by Palestinians, so he could gain what he described as an unfiltered perspective on the territory captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war.

"If you're unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you're unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised," Khanna remarked.

Israel has denied allegations that it has committed genocide in Gaza or maintains an apartheid system in the occupied West Bank, which is home to about 3 million Palestinians and roughly 500,000 Jewish settlers.

(With inputs from Reuters)