U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., says he was detained for more than an hour by armed Israeli settlers during a trip to the occupied West Bank, an encounter he said deepened his concerns about the conflict as he considers a 2028 presidential run. Khanna traveled to the region seeking an unfiltered l ook at life under Israeli occupation. Instead, he said he and his delegation were surrounded by settlers carrying American-made M4 rifles while visiting a destroyed Palestinian village. “We were just looking at it and these hoodlums come up with machine guns … and they detain us,” Khanna said. “They block off the road and then they call the IDF, and the IDF was on their side.” An aide traveling with the congressman said the group was held while members contacted the U.S. Embassy for help. The Israeli military said its troops responded after receiving reports that Israeli civilians were unlawfully blocking the road. The military said it dispersed the settlers and was not involved in detaining Khanna’s delegation. Israeli police said officers witnessed no violence, adding that the group had entered a closed military zone before being released. Khanna described the incident as an example of the “arrogance of power” operating with “total impunity.” “I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers, 21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us,” Khanna said. “Having no respect that they were detaining Americans, no respect that there was an American congressperson in that bus.” The congressman later thanked a U.S. Embassy official for helping secure the group’s release and said he expects Israel to prosecute any violent settlers involved. The confrontation comes as the war in Gaza and conditions in the West Bank have emerged as sharp foreign policy divides within the Democratic Party. Khanna, who is seriously weighing a 2028 White House bid, said the experience has become a defining moment in how he views the region and his party’s future. “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 said. Guy Marzorati, a politics correspondent for KQED, noted that progressives like Khanna have used the conflict as a central issue in Democratic primaries across the country. “Khanna is someone who feels very comfortable talking about this issue of Israel, wanting to bring it front and center,” Marzorati said. “So clearly, looking ahead to 2028, this is something he’d want to bring front and center in a potential presidential campaign.” Israel has consistently rejected allegations of genocide in Gaza and apartheid in the West Bank, maintaining its military actions are necessary for national security. ...read more read less