Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) faced a barrage of criticism from the political left this week after refusing, in a contentious interview, to endorse the idea that Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel amounted to legitimate resistance.

During the Tuesday interview with Drop Site News, Khanna — a potential 2028 presidential contender — rejected that premise repeatedly, calling the assault, which killed roughly 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage, an act of terrorism. “I think the Oct. 7 attack was a terrorist attack,” he said.

His interviewer, Drop Site co-founder Jeremy Scahill, pressed him over his reluctance to back a total US arms embargo on Israel, at one point suggesting the Jewish state bore responsibility for the deaths of its own civilians. “Israeli civilians are dying in these attacks because of the apartheid,” Scahill said.

Scahill returned repeatedly to whether Palestinians had the right to kill Israeli soldiers, framing Oct. 7 as primarily an assault on military bases — though Hamas overran more than 20 civilian communities and a music festival and fired thousands of rockets at population centers.

“Do Palestinians have a right to kill Israeli soldiers, Congressman? On October 7, when they attacked the military bases in the Gaza envelope, did the Qassam Brigades and Saraya al-Quds have a right to kill Israeli soldiers? Yes or no?” Scahill asked.

Khanna declined to endorse any part of the attack. “I am not for violence in any way. I mean, I am for making sure that we end the occupation,” he said. Pressed again, he added: “No, I’m not going to say that Hamas had a right to attack Israeli soldiers or kill Israelis. I don’t think that advances peace or advances Palestinian statehood.”

Scahill accused him of a “double standard.” “You’re saying there are ways that Israel should be able to kill Palestinians, but there is never a condition under which Palestinians can attack armed uniformed soldiers of a force that is still considered an occupying force under international law,” he said. He did not explain why soldiers inside Israel’s recognized borders should be deemed an occupying force.

Launched in July 2024 with a lengthy interview featuring two senior Hamas officials, Drop Site has drawn heavy criticism for coverage that casts Israel as a “genocidal” aggressor while treating groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis more sympathetically. Scahill has interviewed Hamas leaders and describes the group as part of “the resistance.”

Khanna, for his part, kept up his own sharp criticism of Israel, accusing it of “genocide” — a charge Israel rejects — while insisting he opposes Hamas’s ideology and violence. Israeli officials say their military has taken extraordinary steps to limit civilian casualties, noting Hamas’s practice of operating from hospitals, schools, and mosques.

The interview followed Khanna’s recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, where he said armed settlers and Israeli forces detained his delegation. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee rejected the account, saying Khanna was “not held at gunpoint.”

Once a self-described ally of Israel, Khanna has emerged over the past year as one of the Democratic Party’s sharpest critics of the Jewish state — a shift observers tie to both his expected presidential bid and the party’s leftward drift on Israel since Oct. 7. The episode underscored a widening divide among Democrats, who face competing pressure from pro-Israel constituents and progressive activists demanding a change in US policy.