US lawmaker says Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles detained him in West Bank

A US Democratic lawmaker has alleged that he was briefly detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles during a visit to the occupied West Bank.California Representative Ro Khanna said the incident took place on Wednesday while he was touring the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Zanuta, where residents have previously been displaced following repeated settler attacks.According to Khanna, the group had travelled to inspect a village and school that had been destroyed when armed settlers surrounded their vehicle and blocked the road. "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 told Reuters."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," he said, referring to the Israeli military.Cameron Kasky, an aide accompanying Khanna, said the group remained blocked for more than an hour and sought assistance from the US Embassy in Jerusalem before Israeli security personnel intervened. The incident intensified scrutiny of settler violence and the continued use of American military aid in the region.Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed receiving reports of Israeli civilians obstructing vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. It said troops and police officers dispersed the settlers and allowed the vehicles to continue, but did not comment on Khanna's allegations regarding the conduct of security forces.The incident unfolded during Khanna's visit to the West Bank, where he said he deliberately avoided official Israeli engagements in favour of a Palestinian-led itinerary to gain what he described as an unfiltered understanding of conditions under Israeli occupation.The Indian-American congressman, who is considering a run for the 2028 US presidential election, said the trip had strengthened his resolve. "I'm strongly considering it and I'm more resolved to consider it after this trip," he said.Khanna also argued that the Israel-Palestine conflict has become a defining moral issue for the Democratic Party. "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," he said.Israel has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is committing "genocide" in Gaza or operating an apartheid system in the West Bank.Khanna's remarks come as divisions within the Democratic Party over US support for Israel continue to widen ahead of the November midterm elections. According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, Israel's favourability rating among Democratic voters has fallen from 59 per cent in 2018 to 22 per cent in May.The debate has increasingly centred on the United States' annual military assistance package worth $3.8 billion, with a growing number of Democratic lawmakers calling for restrictions on military aid, including funding for weapons supplied to Israel.Catch the latest world news and top headlines. Download the TOI App.