Palestinian Oscar-Winning Director Arrested After Being Assaulted by Israeli Settlers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One of the Palestinian directors of the Oscar-winning documentary Oscar film, No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers. Injured, he was subsequently arrested by the Israeli army on Monday in the occupied West Bank, according to his colleague, Yuval Abraham.

In a post on X, as reported by SBS on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, Abraham stated that a group of Israeli settlers had attacked Hamdan Ballal.

"They beat him, and he suffered head and abdominal injuries. The Israeli army raided the ambulance carrying him and abducted him. There have been no signs of him since," wrote Abraham.

Abraham posted a video on X showing a masked man running towards the camera, one of them throwing a stone in his direction and the screen turning black.

"A group of armed masked settlers, similar to the KKK, who attacked No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal (still missing), were captured on camera here," the post read.

The incident took place in the village of Susya, southern West Bank, according to the anti-occupation organization Center for Jewish Nonviolence, whose members said they recorded the event live.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that four Palestinian residents, including Ballal, were injured in the attack by Israeli settlers. According to the report, armed settlers threw stones at the village residents, homes, and cars.

Ballal was said to have been hit in the head by a stone, and initially, nothing was known about his whereabouts or condition.

Lawyer Leah Tsemmel said that Israeli police told her that they were detained at a military base for medical treatment, and she has not been able to speak with them.

Palestinian activists and observers reported that the Israeli army forcibly removed the injured Ballal from the ambulance and detained him.

The Israeli military stated in a release that three Palestinian suspects, as well as an Israeli civilian, had been detained. However, they denied that a Palestinian had been "arrested from inside an ambulance."

"A few people threw stones at Israeli residents, damaging their vehicles near Susya [in the West Bank]. After this, a violent confrontation broke out, involving stone-throwing between Palestinians and Israelis at the scene,"

The Israeli military continued by saying that when the police arrived at the scene, "several terrorists began throwing stones" at them.

"In response, the forces arrested three Palestinians who were allegedly throwing stones at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further interrogation by the Israeli police," the statement said.

It was also reported that an Israeli citizen was injured and evacuated for medical treatment.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

No Other Land, directed by an Israeli-Palestinian activist, won the best documentary film at the Academy Awards this year.

Shot near Masafer Yatta, the documentary follows a Palestinian youth struggling with forced displacement as the Israeli army demolishes homes in his community to make way for a firing zone.

The Israeli army declared Masafer Yatta a prohibited military zone in the 1980s.

The West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, is home to about three million Palestinian residents, as well as nearly half a million Israelis living in settlements deemed illegal under international law.

Editor's Choice: Synopsis of No Other Land, Winner of the 2025 Oscar, Sheds Light on Life in Palestine

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