On Monday, Israeli settlers assaulted Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” in the occupied West Bank. Shortly after, the Israeli army detained him, according to his fellow directors and other witnesses.
Ballal was one of three Palestinians arrested in the village of Susiya, according to lawyer Lea Tsemel, who represents them. The police reported that the detainees were being held at a military base for medical treatment. However, on Tuesday morning, Tsemel stated that she had been unable to contact them or obtain further information about their whereabouts.
Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed the arrest and described how approximately two dozen settlers, some masked and armed, and several in Israeli military uniforms, attacked the village. When soldiers arrived, they pointed their weapons at the Palestinians while settlers continued throwing stones.
“Since we returned from the Oscars, we have faced daily attacks,” Adra told The Associated Press. “This seems like retaliation for making the film. It feels like punishment.”
The Israeli army claimed that it had detained three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones at its forces and an Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians, a claim disputed by witnesses interviewed by AP. According to the army, the detainees were transferred to the Israeli police for questioning, while an Israeli citizen was evacuated for medical treatment.
“No Other Land,” which won this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary, portrays the struggle of Masafer Yatta residents to prevent the Israeli army from demolishing their villages. Ballal and Adra, both from the region, co-directed the film alongside Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The documentary has received multiple international awards, starting with the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. However, it has also sparked controversy in Israel and abroad, such as when the city of Miami Beach proposed canceling the lease of a theater that screened the film.
Adra recounted that the settlers stormed the village on Monday afternoon, shortly after residents broke their daily fast during Ramadan. One of them, whom Adra claims frequently attacks the village, approached Ballal’s house accompanied by soldiers, who fired shots into the air. Ballal’s wife heard her husband being beaten outside while he screamed, “I’m dying.”
Later, Adra saw soldiers taking Ballal away, handcuffed and blindfolded, loading him into a military vehicle. In a phone interview with AP, he said Ballal’s blood was still visible on the ground outside his own door.
Another witness, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, corroborated some details of Adra’s account.
Between 10 and 20 masked settlers, armed with stones and sticks, also attacked activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, smashing car windows and slashing tires to force them to flee. Josh Kimelman, an activist present at the scene, confirmed these events to AP.
A video provided by the Center shows a masked settler pushing and punching two activists in a dusty field at night. In the footage, the sound of stones hitting a vehicle can be heard as the activists run back to their car.
Israel occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Palestinians aspire to establish a state in these territories, but the expansion of Israeli settlements is seen as a major obstacle to a two-state solution.
Currently, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in over 100 settlements in the West Bank, while three million Palestinians remain under an indefinite Israeli military regime. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority administers the main urban centers.
In the 1980s, the Israeli army designated Masafer Yatta as a live-fire training zone and ordered the expulsion of its residents, mostly Arab Bedouins. Although around 1,000 people have remained in the area, Israeli soldiers regularly enter to demolish homes, tents, water tanks, and olive groves, fueling fears of a total expulsion.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank, killing hundreds of Palestinians. There has also been a rise in settler attacks against Palestinians, as well as Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
