US Congressman Ro Khanna Detained by Armed Israeli Settlers in West Bank Amid Israel Tensions

US Congressman Ro Khanna says he was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank while the Israel Defense Forces sided with the settlers before police intervened amid ongoing Israel tensions.

Congressman Detained by Settlers

US congressman Ro Khanna says he was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank. [1] Khanna, 49, had been in a van with his team when they were surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles on Wednesday, he told Reuters news agency. [1] Khanna was visiting the village of Khirbet Zanuta in the southern West Bank, which he said had been destroyed by settlers including the school. [2] Footage and accounts provided to The New York Times by Khanna and his team shows a group of armed men blocking the road outside a small village in the southern West Bank and swearing at them in Hebrew and Arabic. [2] "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. [1] "And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road." [1]

IDF Response and Khanna's Account

When the IDF arrived they interacted in a friendly manner with the settlers, blocked the exit, and continued the detention according to Khanna, though the IDF stated troops dispersed the civilians and allowed vehicles to proceed. [2] Writing on X, Khanna said that when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrived, "they sided with the settlers and continued our detention". [1] Khanna said that when IDF arrived he was dispirited to see them interact in a friendly manner with the settlers and block the exit for the congressman's party. [2] The Israeli military said in a statement troops and police officers took action after getting a report settlers had blocked vehicles in the area. [1] "Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way," the IDF said. [1] The Israeli military said in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse that it had received a report "regarding Israeli civilians who were unlawfully blocking the vehicles of foreign nationals and members of the media in the area of Khirbet Zanuta". [2] "Upon receiving the report, IDF troops were dispatched to the scene, quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the blocked road. The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road." [2] While they were detained, an aide who was with Khanna said they made appeals to the US Embassy in Jerusalem for help, and were released after a group of police officers intervened. [1] After calls to the US embassy and Israeli police, the congressman said he was allowed to pass. [2]

Separate Attack on Journalists

In a separate incident the next day saw four Israeli settlers arrested for attacking journalists including a CNN crew near Sinjil. [2] Israeli settlers attack CNN crew in West Bank. In a separate incident after Khanna's detention, Israeli settlers damaged a vehicle carrying foreign journalists in the occupied West Bank, which US broadcaster CNN described as an attack on its crew by the settlers. [2] Israeli police said they arrested four settlers on Saturday (local time) after the attack. [2] According to CNN, its team was reporting near the village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, when the incident took place. [2] "As the CNN team and other journalists tried to leave, a group of four settlers blocked the road with their car and tried to keep the vehicles from moving forward," the network said in a report on its website. [2] "The four settlers were wielding wooden and metal rods and stones. One settler brandished a knife and tried to puncture the tyres of CNN's vehicle." [2] CNN said the group later climbed onto another vehicle carrying journalists that was travelling behind its team and smashed its windshield. [2] In a statement, Israeli police said they received a report that suspects had blocked a vehicle carrying several foreign journalists near Sinjil. [2] "IDF (military) forces from the Samaria Brigade were dispatched to the scene, secured the journalists' passage, and detained four suspects believed to have been involved in the incident," the statement said. [2] Police later "arrested the suspects, collected witness statements from the journalists, and located and seized the suspects' vehicle". [2] During a search of the vehicle, officers recovered clubs and a knife, the force added. [2]

Context of West Bank Settlements

Settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem house 700,000 Jews, are considered illegal under international law, and UN data shows a sharp increase in settler violence since the Gaza war began in October 2023. [1] Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. [1] An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. [1] The settlements are illegal under international law. [1] Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Geneva Convention states that an occupying force can't move its civilians to the territory it occupies. [2] Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the United Nations has reported a sharp increase in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, while several Israeli ministers have continued to call for the annexation of all or part of the territory. [2] Israel's government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under heavy criticism from many countries around the world and rights groups for accelerating settlement expansion, which they say is aimed at preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian state. [2]

Khanna's Political Reaction

Khanna, a California Democrat considering a 2028 presidential run, described the episode as a moral test for US Democrats on Palestinian human rights, Gaza and the West Bank. [2] The politician, a father-of-two, is mulling over a presidential run in 2028. [1] "Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes," Khanna told the Times. [2] Khanna said he believed his party's establishment was "clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become". [2] He said he chose to do a visit exclusively to the West Bank, with programming led by Palestinians, to give him an unfiltered view of territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. [2] "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." [2] Khanna is the second Democrat considering a White House bid to visit the region this week. [2]

What to watch next: UN reports on settler violence in the West Bank and any further arrests following attacks on journalists near Sinjil remain key developments to monitor.