RO KHANNA SAYS ISRAELI SETTLERS DETAINED HIS WEST BANK TOUR GROUP

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna said armed Israeli settlers blocked and detained his delegation during a visit to the occupied West Bank this week, an account that Israel's military disputed in part while saying troops and police dispersed Israeli civilians who were obstructing vehicles.

Reuters reported that Khanna, a California Democrat, said his group's van was surrounded by settlers carrying U.S.-made M4 rifles while touring a part of the southern West Bank where Palestinians have faced frequent settler attacks. The incident occurred near Khirbet Zanuta, a Palestinian hamlet in the southern West Bank.

The Associated Press reported that Khanna said he was detained by settlers and the Israeli military and was released only after calls were made to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Khanna characterised the episode as the military siding with the settlers rather than helping the American delegation.

An aide to Khanna, Cameron Kasky, told Reuters that the group was held for more than an hour and appealed to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem for help. Reuters reported that Kasky said officers who appeared to be police eventually intervened, allowing the group to leave.

The Associated Press reported that Khanna's office said masked armed men stopped the group and refused to let it leave while the delegation was visiting a Palestinian village abandoned after settler attacks. Khanna said Israeli soldiers later arrived and, in his account, interacted in a friendly way with the settlers while blocking the group's exit.

The Israeli military gave a different account. Reuters reported that the military said troops and police responded after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. The military said troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue.

The Associated Press reported that the Israeli Defense Forces said it received a report of Israeli citizens blocking foreign nationals and media in Khirbet Zanuta. In the statement reported by the Associated Press, the military said troops were dispatched, dispersed the Israeli civilians and reopened the road. The IDF also said its soldiers did not take part in blocking the road.

Reuters reported that Israel's police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters also reported that the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The dispute over what happened matters because it involves a sitting U.S. member of Congress, armed settlers, Israeli military forces and a Palestinian community that has become a symbol of settler violence and displacement in the West Bank.

Khirbet Zanuta is a small Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forcibly displaced after violent settler raids following the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, according to Reuters. The Associated Press also identified the site as a village abandoned after settler attacks.

Khanna used the incident to make a broader argument about Palestinian vulnerability under occupation. The Associated Press reported that Khanna said in a fundraising email that if such an incident could happen to an American member of Congress, it raised questions about what life is like for Palestinians without security, smartphones or a national platform.

Reuters reported that Khanna said his visit was intended to provide an unfiltered look at territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. He also told Reuters that the trip made him more resolved as he considers a possible 2028 presidential run.

The incident comes during a period of growing tension between Israel's government and parts of the U.S. Democratic Party. Reuters reported that Khanna is among Democrats pressing for sharper scrutiny of U.S. military aid to Israel, while the Associated Press reported that Democratic politicians have stepped up criticism of Israel amid a shift in party voters' views since the war in Gaza began.

The Associated Press cited a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finding that about 58 percent of Democrats said the United States is too supportive of Israelis. Reuters cited Reuters/Ipsos polling showing Israel's favorability rating among Democrats fell from 59 percent in 2018 to 22 percent in May.

Khanna's trip also came the same week as a visit by Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff, who criticized Israeli policy during remarks in Tel Aviv. Reuters and the Associated Press both framed the visits as part of a broader debate among Democrats over Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and future U.S. policy.

The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Palestinians seek the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, as part of a future state. Israel says the West Bank is disputed territory and rejects the international legal view that its settlements there are illegal.

Most countries and the United Nations regard Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under international law, Reuters reported, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on transferring a civilian population into occupied territory. Israel rejects that position.

Reuters reported that the West Bank has about three million Palestinians and around 500,000 Jewish settlers. The Guardian reported that more than 700,000 Israelis live in settlements across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Those figures reflect different geographic framing, with East Jerusalem sometimes counted separately and sometimes included in broader settlement totals.

The reported confrontation also followed other violence involving foreign nationals and media in the West Bank. The Associated Press reported that on Saturday the Israeli military said it detained four suspects accused of attacking foreign journalists traveling to Sinjil, another West Bank community. The military said the assailants blocked the journalists' vehicle, damaged it and were armed with clubs and knives.

The Khanna incident is likely to carry political weight in Washington because it combines several already sensitive issues: U.S. military support for Israel, settler violence, the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, and the expansion of settlements under occupation.

For Khanna's office, the core claim is that armed settlers stopped the delegation and that Israeli forces did not initially protect the group's ability to leave. For Israel's military, the official position reported by the Associated Press and Reuters is that troops responded to a report, dispersed the Israeli civilians and did not participate in blocking the road.

Mission Offline could not independently verify the full sequence of events. The available record includes Khanna's account, his aide's account, photographs provided through the Associated Press, reporting from Reuters and the Associated Press, and the Israeli military's statement. Police and embassy comment were not immediately available in the Reuters report reviewed for this article.

The incident remains significant even with disputed details because neither side appears to dispute that Israeli civilians blocked vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta and that Israeli forces responded. The unresolved question is whether Israeli soldiers helped free the group promptly, as the military says, or initially reinforced the settlers' control of the road, as Khanna alleges.

The next stage will likely depend on whether Khanna's office, Israeli authorities, the U.S. Embassy or other witnesses release additional information. Any further documentation could clarify how long the delegation was blocked, who gave directions at the scene, and how the group was ultimately allowed to leave.

Fact-check date: July 11, 2026

Article type: News

Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; The Guardian; U.S. Representative Ro Khanna and aide Cameron Kasky, as reported by Reuters and the Associated Press; Israeli Defense Forces statement, as reported by Reuters and the Associated Press.