Ro Khanna barred from leaving West Bank for 90 minutes

Representative Ro Khanna was barred from leaving the West Bank for 90 minutes this week, a sharp interruption for a California Democrat who has emerged as one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israeli settlement policy. The episode landed while Congress was in recess and underscored how quickly the politics of the conflict can become physical on the ground.

Khanna’s visit came after a run of increasingly direct positions on the issue. He filed H.Res. 1092 on March 2, 2026, a House resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion, settler violence and related human rights abuses in the West Bank, and calling for U.S. policy responses meant to preserve a negotiated two-state solution. In January, Khanna and Senator Peter Welch led 74 bicameral lawmakers in a letter to the Trump administration urging pressure against what they described as Israeli efforts to annex the West Bank.

That letter singled out settlement construction in E-1, east of Jerusalem, and pro-annexation bills in the Knesset. The lawmakers warned that such moves could split the West Bank into northern and southern enclaves and sever Palestinian contiguity, a warning that has become more pointed as settlement activity has accelerated.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said settler attacks causing casualties or property damage sharply increased across the West Bank. A March 2026 U.N. report said 84 new outposts were established during the reporting period and that settlement activity had expanded into Area B, territory that under the Oslo framework is supposed to remain under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction. OCHA also said repeated attacks on the Ein Samiya wells east of Ramallah damaged critical infrastructure and disrupted water for an estimated 100,000 Palestinians.

Human rights groups say the violence has pushed displacement deeper into the West Bank’s daily reality. B’Tselem said that since 7 October 2023, military attacks and settler violence have displaced Palestinians on a scale not seen since 1967. The political response abroad has hardened as well: in June 2026, six countries, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway, sanctioned networks tied to settler violence, while the European Union has discussed possible trade restrictions on West Bank settlements.

Khanna’s brief obstruction also reflected a broader shift in American politics. The New York Times has noted that where past U.S. leaders toured the region to signal support for Israel, today’s Democratic presidential hopefuls are more likely to use West Bank trips to sharpen their criticism of Israeli policy. Khanna’s experience turned that debate into a visible test of access, authority and the limits of U.S. influence in territory where settlers and security forces can still dictate the pace of movement.