US California Congressman Ro Khanna says that his delegation was detained for 90 minutes by armed Israeli settlers while touring the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Zanuta in the southern West Bank.
The 49-year-old was in a van with his team when they were surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles on Wednesday.
The incident has increased focus on settler violence in the occupied West Bank which has soared since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza nearly three years ago.
On social platform X, Khanna said that when the Israel Defense Forces arrived, “They sided with the settlers and continued over detention.”
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.
The Israeli military announced in a statement that troops and police officers took action after settlers had blocked vehicles in the area.
For those unfamiliar with the fact Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jewish residents since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel has broad bipartisan consensus in the US but has come under intensified scrutiny in recent months with both Republicans and Democrats calling for an end to US military aid.
Congress is reconsidering new military spending legislation that if passed would strengthen the US’s defense ties with Israel.
Notably, Republican Thomas Massie and Khanna have been pushing for lawmakers to end military aid to Israel. Earlier, Khanna said the House Rules Committee had canceled a vote on a bill proposed by Massie, demanding an end to US funding for the Israeli military.
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