Middle East crisis West Bank

Congressman held by armed settlers

Armed Israeli settlers detained and blocked the path of Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna during a visit to the West Bank earlier this week, NBC News reports.

In an interview with Reuters, Khanna said that the van in which he and a group were traveling was surrounded by settlers armed with automatic weapons in the southern part of the West Bank.

“We were in a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed. They had destroyed the school, they had destroyed the village, and we were there to see the devastation,” he says.

According to Khanna, the group was held for over an hour and was forced to ask the US Embassy in Jerusalem for help. Only when Israeli police intervened were they able to leave the scene.

Khanna is one of the names mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for the Democrats ahead of the next election.

– I am seriously considering it, and after this trip I am even more determined to do so, he says.

Journalists attacked by settlers in the West Bank

Four Israeli settlers in the West Bank have been arrested after attacking a group of journalists, including from CNN, the channel reports.

The journalists were in the village of Sinjil north of Ramallah to report on the one-year anniversary of the murder of Palestinian-American Saif Musallet, who was beaten to death by settlers.

Just a few minutes after their arrival, four settlers blocked the road for their cars. Armed with wooden poles, metal rods and stones, they began jumping on one of the cars and smashing the windshield. One of the settlers also tried to slash the tires with a knife.

It happened a day after US Congressman Ro Khanna was detained by armed settlers during a visit to the village of Turmus Ayya.