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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., claims to have been detained by Israeli settlers armed with U.S.-made firearms while visiting the West Bank.
Khanna and his team were surrounded by a group of West Bank settlers near the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta on Wednesday, his office told The New York Times. The settlers were armed with American-made M4 machine guns, Khanna’s office said.
When soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces arrived, Khanna claimed they sided with the settlers. The situation only defused after Israeli police officers arrived and dispersed the settlers and their vehicles blocking the U.S. congressional group’s path, according to the Democrat’s office.
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“If they will do this to an American congressman, imagine what is happening to Palestinian families who are just trying to live,” Rep Khanna told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“I am grateful to David Brownstein of the American embassy for helping rescue us. I expect Israel will prosecute the violent settlers and IDF soldiers who detained American citizens,” Rep. Khanna said.
The Times first reported details of the alleged incident on Saturday.
Reached by Fox News Digital, a representative for Khanna’s team said she could confirm the details reported by the Times. Khanna also spoke to Reuters about what allegedly transpired.
“I’m certainly probably the first American politician who’s been detained by the IDF and Israeli settlers,” Khanna said in a Reuters video.
“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed,” Khanna said. “And these hoodlums come in with machine guns, an 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.”
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Khanna, a frequent critic of Israel and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, claimed the incident reframed his thinking on a potential White House run.
“I’m strongly considering it,” he told Reuters on camera of a potential U.S. presidential run, “and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip. We need a new moral direction in our party. A new moral vision that respects the dignity and human rights of people around the world.”
Khanna added to the Times, “No American would support this if they knew the details of what was going on here.”
The Israeli military told Reuters that troops and police officers intervened after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near the village of Khirbet Zanuta.
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“Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military told Reuters.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the IDF, State Department and U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem for more information.
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