Oscar-winning Palestinian director attacked by Israeli settlers, detained by Israeli army

Hamdan Ballal, one of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary ”No Other Land”, was beaten by Israeli settlers and detained by the Israeli military on Monday in the occupied West Bank. This incident occurred in the village of Susiya, where Ballal was living.

Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the area, and although the Israeli military claims that the detainees were involved in throwing rocks at forces, witnesses, including fellow co-director Basel Adra, disputed this. Adra said that the incident involved about two dozen settlers—some masked, some armed, some in Israeli uniforms—attacking the village, while soldiers pointed their guns at the Palestinians.

The attack occurred shortly after the daily fast for Ramadan had ended in the village. According to Adra, a settler who had previously attacked the village came over with soldiers, and the military shot into the air. Ballal’s wife reportedly heard her husband being beaten outside and screamed, “I’m dying.” Ballal was then taken away, handcuffed and blindfolded, by the soldiers.

The ”No Other Land” documentary, which chronicles the struggle of residents in the Masafer Yatta area to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing their homes, has drawn significant attention and controversy. The film won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2024 and has sparked ire from some in Israel. The film’s directors, Ballal and Adra, are from Masafer Yatta, which is at the center of the ongoing land disputes.

Ballal’s beating and detention, as well as the settlers’ violent behavior, are part of a larger pattern of increasing tensions and violence in the West Bank, where settlers regularly clash with Palestinian residents. This region has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Israel’s settlement expansion and military actions seen as obstacles to a two-state solution.