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Khanna detained in Khirbet Zanuta
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Israeli settlers and later Israeli troops detained him during a visit to the occupied West Bank, writing on X that "Israeli settlers, brandishing American-made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine."
“Bay Area Congressmember Ro Khanna announced on Saturday that he was detained by the Israel Defense Forces on his trip to Palestine and was released only after calls to the American Embassy in Jerusalem”
Khanna said the confrontation happened Wednesday in the Palestinian community of Khirbet Zanuta, where masked armed men stopped his group and refused to let them leave until the U.S. Embassy and Israeli police were contacted.
The IDF said it received a report that Israeli citizens blocked foreign nationals and media in Khirbet Zanuta and that "IDF troops were dispatched to the scene, quickly dispersed the Israeli civilians, and reopened the blocked road."
The ABC7 Los Angeles report said Khanna announced on Saturday that he was detained by the Israel Defense Forces and released only after calls to the American Embassy in Jerusalem, while the IDF denied detaining any visitors in the incident.
In the same West Bank reporting, the IDF also said it detained four suspects accused of attacking foreign journalists traveling to Sinjil, another West Bank community, after assailants blocked the journalists' vehicle, damaged it, and were armed with clubs and knives.
CNN crew attacked near anniversary
A CNN crew was attacked by Israeli settlers as it commemorated the first anniversary of the death of 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet, with the reporters accompanied by his father, Kamel Musallet, at the West Bank spot where Musallet was killed.
TheWrap reported that "Within seconds, we spot a car speeding towards us," as four settlers blocked the dirt path and approached the armored vehicle armed with clubs and a knife, slashing tires and damaging the glass windshield.
Democracy Now! said the convoy included CNN’s Jeremy Diamond and that four settlers have been reportedly detained over the attack, while noting that "To date, no one has been arrested for Musallet’s killing."
Democracy Now! aired video dialogue in which Jasper Nathaniel said, "They are not letting us pass," and Adele Shoko described a man with a knife going for the tire.
TheWrap said the CNN crew called the military, but settlers had gotten to them first, and it reported that four settlers were ultimately arrested according to Israeli police.
Army sanctions reservists, wider tensions
Le Figaro reported that the Israeli army sanctioned a battalion of reservists after they assaulted and detained a CNN crew in the West Bank last weekend, describing the sanction as "Activities suspended until further notice, and an ethics training course."
Le Figaro said the reservists from the Netzah Yehuda battalion confronted the reporters as they tried to film the aftermath of a settler attack, and it said they appeared to aid alleged perpetrators attempting to establish a settlement deemed illegal by the Israeli state.
In the same broader context of tensions, National News Desk | Western Alternative said the West Bank has seen a surge of settlement construction and settler violence against Palestinians, and it added that attackers are rarely punished.
Democracy Now! framed the attack as part of an escalation of settler activity in the occupied West Bank, with Adele Shoko saying, "Area C is almost entirely ethnically cleansed by the settlers backed by the Israeli state, and they moved to Area B, attacking big villages. But Area A is another level."
TheWrap tied the incident to the anniversary of Musallet’s death and said the CNN crew was accompanied by his father as settlers descended "within seconds," while it reported that four settlers were ultimately arrested.
