Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said Saturday that he and other Americans traveling with him were briefly detained by Israeli settlers and military forces during a visit to a West Bank village earlier in the week.
In a social media post, Khanna said that on Wednesday, near the West Bank hamlet of Khirbet Zanuta, "settlers, brandishing American made M4s" stopped the bus he and other Americans were traveling in.
Khanna told Reuters in a Thursday interview that the settlers blocked the road and then called the Israeli military. When the Israel Defense Forces arrived, Khanna claimed in his X post, they "sided with the settlers & continued our detention."
The IDF gave a different account. The military said it received calls on Wednesday about Israeli civilians "who were unlawfully blocking the vehicles of foreign nationals and members of the media." The IDF said it dispatched troops to the scene, dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the road. "The IDF soldiers operating in the area did not take part in blocking the road," the IDF statement said.
Khanna told Reuters that the IDF moved the vehicles blocking the road after speaking with the Israeli civilians. The IDF added that the identity of the armed individual connected with the incident is under review.
The California congressman said in his social media post that the IDF "made a big mistake," and closed his statement by writing "you will be hearing more soon."
