U.S. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said armed Israeli settlers detained him and his team during a visit to the occupied West Bank this week. He described the incident as a clear example of the realities Palestinians face under Israeli occupation. Khanna shared his experience during an interview with Reuters on Thursday while visiting a Palestinian village. He is also considering a run for the U.S. presidency in 2028.

Khanna said the incident took place a day earlier when his group visited Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian hamlet in the southern West Bank. The village has faced repeated settler attacks, and many residents left the area after violent raids that followed the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. Khanna said he wanted to see the situation firsthand without any official Israeli itinerary.

According to Khanna, his group visited a village that had suffered extensive destruction. He said settlers had damaged the local school and the village itself. While the group examined the area, armed Israeli settlers surrounded their van and stopped them from leaving. Khanna said the settlers carried American-made M4 rifles.

"We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it," said Khanna.

He also described what happened next. "And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – 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.

Cameron Kasky, an aide accompanying Khanna during the visit, said the group remained blocked for more than an hour. He said they contacted the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and asked for assistance. Kasky added that officers who appeared to be Israeli police later arrived at the scene and helped end the standoff. The group then continued its journey.

The Israeli military confirmed that troops and police officers responded after receiving reports that Israeli settlers had blocked vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta. The military said security personnel reached the area, removed the settlers from the road and allowed the vehicles to continue.

"Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way," the Israeli military said.

Israel Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem also did not issue a response.

Khanna became the second Democratic leader exploring a possible presidential campaign to visit the region this week. Former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel also visited Israel. Speaking in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Emanuel said Israeli policies toward Palestinians were weakening support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

When asked about his own political future, Khanna said, "I'm strongly considering it and I'm more resolved to consider it after this trip."

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has become a major issue within the Democratic Party ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections. The debate has influenced several Democratic primary races. Some incumbent lawmakers lost to progressive challengers who argued that they had supported Israel's right-wing government.

Public opinion among Democratic voters has also shifted in recent years. According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, Israel's favorability rating among Democrats dropped from 59 percent in 2018 to 22 percent in May.

For decades, Israel has received strong bipartisan support in Washington. However, an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers now want to reduce or end U.S. military assistance to Israel. The United States provides about $3.8 billion in military aid every year. That assistance includes funding for light weapons such as M4 rifles and missile interception systems that Israel used during its conflict with Iran.

While standing near Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian village with many Palestinian American dual nationals, Khanna said the Democratic Party leadership had failed to understand how important the issue had become for many voters.

He said, "clueless about how much of a moral test Palestine, Gaza and Israel have become."

Khanna also explained why he chose to spend his trip only in the West Bank. He said Palestinians planned the entire visit so he could witness conditions without outside influence. He wanted to understand life in the occupied territory that Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war.

Speaking about the conflict, Khanna said, "If you're unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you're unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised."

Israel strongly rejects accusations that it has committed genocide in Gaza or created an apartheid system in the West Bank. The West Bank has about three million Palestinians and around 500,000 Jewish settlers.

Most countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. They cite the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits a country from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory.

Israel rejects that legal interpretation. It says the West Bank is disputed territory and argues that Jewish communities have existed there for thousands of years. Palestinians continue to view the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, as parts of a future independent Palestinian state.

Support for Israel remains strong among most Republican leaders in the United States. However, some members of President Donald Trump's political coalition have also started calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.