US Congressman Ro Khanna said he was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the occupied West Bank. The incident occurred on Wednesday when Khanna and his team were in a van and surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles, he told Reuters news agency.

Detention and IDF Involvement

Writing on X. Khanna said that when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrived, “they sided with the settlers and continued our detention.” The BBC has reached out to the IDF for comment. The Israeli military said in a statement troops and police officers took action after getting a report settlers had blocked vehicles in the area.

“Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the IDF said. Khanna was visiting the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta, on a fact-finding visit to look at the impact of Israeli occupation of the area.

Settler Actions and American-Made Weapons

The politician, a father-of-two, is mulling over a presidential run in 2028. “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,” Khanna said. “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,” Khanna said.

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. Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state – during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

International Law and Settlements

The settlements are illegal under international law. Khanna’s comments have sparked renewed discussion about the role of US-made weapons in the region and the ongoing tensions between settlers and Palestinian communities. The incident highlights the complex dynamics in the occupied territories, where political figures from the US continue to face challenges and controversies during their visits.