Overview
- Khanna says his delegation was surrounded and held for more than an hour by armed Israeli settlers near Khirbet Zanuta while visiting a damaged Palestinian hamlet, and he described the assailants as carrying U.S.-made M4 rifles.
- A New York Times photographer traveling with the group and Khanna’s aide Cameron Kasky corroborated that the convoy was blocked and that the delegation appealed to the U.S. Embassy for help.
- The Israel Defense Forces said troops and police were dispatched, dispersed the civilians blocking the road and reopened it, but Khanna and several witnesses say soldiers fraternized with settlers and prolonged the detention, leaving the military’s role disputed.
- Khanna has said the incident strengthened his consideration of a 2028 presidential run and the episode has already intensified Democratic debate over U.S. security aid and accountability for settler violence.
- Human rights groups and U.N. monitors report a wider rise in settler attacks and low prosecution rates in the West Bank since October 2023, and Khanna and others have called for investigations and government action in response to the incident.