Ro Khanna says Israeli settlers detained him in West Bank visit

Israeli settlers detained Rep. Ro Khanna for more than an hour during a West Bank visit after his group’s van was surrounded on a road in the southern West Bank. Khanna said the settlers were armed with U.S.-made M4 rifles, and that members of the Israel Defense Forces spoke with them and moved a car to block the road.

Khanna described the episode as he spoke on July 11 in Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah, after a trip through a Palestinian village he said had been destroyed by settlers. He cast the experience as an “unfiltered” look at the human toll of Israeli occupation as he weighs a possible 2028 presidential run. The confrontation unfolded during a visit this week in an area where residents face frequent settler attacks.

The New York Times said Khanna was barred from leaving for 90 minutes. CBS News said a spokesperson for Khanna confirmed the account, including that the Israel Defense Forces spoke with the settlers. The Jerusalem Post said the delegation appealed to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem after settlers blocked their vehicle, and that Israeli security forces later cleared the road.

The incident lands at a sensitive moment in U.S. debate over Israel policy, with Washington facing renewed questions over how far its influence reaches on the ground and what protection Americans have when they are caught in clashes involving settlers and Israeli forces. Khanna’s account put those questions in sharp relief, with a sitting member of Congress saying he was held in place while touring territory where Palestinians live under occupation and settler violence remains a constant threat.