A Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker was reportedly attacked by Israeli settlers on the West Bank before being detained by the military.
Hamdan Ballal was one of the co-directors of No Other Land, which scooped the Best Documentary category at this year’s Academy Awards.
An anti-Zionist Jewish activist group said dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron.
Members of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence said a rampaging mob descended upon the village, throwing stones, smashing windows, slashing car tyres and destroying a war tank in the village.
The settlers beat the director, leaving him bleeding from the head, and threw punches at activists. While Ballal was being treated in an ambulance, soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) detained him and a second Palestinian man, the group added.
Joseph, one of the five activists who witnessed the brutal attack, said the filmmaker was surrounded by a group of around 15 armed settlers.
‘They started throwing stones towards Palestinians and destroyed a water tank near Hamdan’s house,’ he told The Guardian.
Another activist Raviv, told the same publication: ‘The settlers destroyed his car with stones and slashed one of the tyres.’
Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was reportedly attacked by masked Israeli settlers on the West Bank before being detained as he was being treated for his injuries
No Other Land, co-directed by Hamdan Ballal, highlights the plight of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
In a video posted by Israeli investigative journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, one of the co-directors of No Other Land, one of the settlers is seen hurling a rock into a car window
The Jewish activist group said the settlers arrived at the scene dressed in military uniform, alongside actual soldiers, who chased Hamdan to his house and handed him over to the military.
Another of the activists, Josh Kimelman, said: ‘We don’t know where Hamdan is because he was taken away in a blindfold.’
Video provided by the Center for Jewish Nonviolence showed a masked settler shoving and swinging his fists at two activists from the group in a dusty field at night.
The activists rush back to their car. ‘Get in, get in!’ one shouts, and they duck inside as the thuds of rocks being thrown can be heard. ‘Car window was broken,’ the driver says as they drive off.
In another video, posted by Israeli investigative journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, one of the co-directors of No Other Land, masked men reported to be settlers are seen sprinting towards a car before hurling a rock through its window.
Chase Carter, the development and communications director for the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, said: ‘Tonight, the Oscar-winning Director of No Other Land Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers and arrested by the Israeli army in his home village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta.
‘The group of assailants arrived at approximately 6PM with batons, knives, and at least one assault rifle; many were also masked.
‘Five Jewish American activists responded to the scene to document the attack and they were violently assaulted by the settlers, who also used rocks to smash their car with the activists inside.’
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sought to blame the outbreak of violence on alleged incidents of Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli citizens near Susya, damaging their vehicles.
The car of documentary director, Hamdan Ballal, after it was attacked by Israeli settlers on Monday
Another video shows a masked Israel settler (right) approaching Jewish activists (in patchwork trousers and black tee) who are supporting Palestinians on the West Bank
The masked settler then starts throwing punches at activists, hitting one in the face and neck
An IDF spokesperson said: ‘Following this, a violent confrontation broke out, involving mutual rock-hurling between Palestinians and Israelis at the scene.
‘IDF and Israeli Police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation, at this point, several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces.
‘In response, the forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israel Police.
‘An Israeli citizen was injured in the incident and was evacuated to receive medical treatment.
‘Contrary to claims, no Palestinian was apprehended from inside an ambulance.’
However, Carter said: ‘The Israeli military and police regularly lie about what goes on within the occupied territories and seek to criminalise Palestinians at every turn.’
He said he had heard from colleagues that Hamdan is likely to be held overnight, but hopes the success of No Other Land might lead both to a quick release and to political change in the West Bank.
He added: ‘We hope that the high profile of the film will support this story staying in the news for a long time – and cause so much outrage that it makes some kind of positive impact in the region to curb israeli settler violence.’
No Other Land, which won the Oscar this year for best documentary, chronicles the struggle by residents of Masafer Yatta to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages and the alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
The film has two Palestinian co-directors, Ballal and Basel Adra, both residents of Masafar Yatta, and two Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The documentary won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024.
However viewings have drawn ire in Israel and abroad, with the mayor of Miami Beach in Florida briefly proposing to ending the lease and withdrawal all funding to a movie theatre that screened the documentary.
The Israeli military designated the village of Masafer Yatta as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered residents, mostly Arab Bedouin, to be expelled.
However, around 1,000 residents have largely remained in place, but soldiers regularly move in to demolish homes, tents, water tanks and olive orchards – and Palestinians fear outright expulsion could come at any time.
While the West Bank is the larger of the two Palestinian territories, Israel captured the area in the 1967 Six-Day War, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, and has occupied it ever since.
Israelis have now built well over 100 settlements on the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship.
The three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
The attack comes on the back of criticism leveled at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel broke the ceasefire in bombing raids believed to have killed more than 700 people in Gaza since last week.