Oscar-winning director, Hamdan Ballal, beaten and arrested

Israeli settlers have reportedly attacked Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal in the occupied West Bank before he was detained by Israeli forces.

The Palestinian filmmaker was among three Palestinians taken into custody in the village of Susiya on Monday, local time, lawyer Lea Tsemel said. Police told her the detainees were being held at a military base for medical treatment, but she had not been able to contact them.

Fellow director Basel Adra, who witnessed the incident, said about two dozen settlers, some masked and armed, raided the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their weapons at Palestinians while settlers threw stones, he said.

“We came back from the Oscars, and every day since there has been an attack on us,” Adra told The Associated Press.

“This might be their revenge for making the movie. It feels like a punishment.”

The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of throwing rocks at soldiers, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in what it called a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians. Witnesses disputed the claim.

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No Other Land, which won this year’s Oscar for best documentary, highlights efforts by residents of Masafer Yatta to resist Israeli military orders to demolish their villages.

Ballal and Adra, both from Masafer Yatta, co-directed the film with Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Since premiering at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, it has won several awards but also sparked controversy.

In the United States, Miami Beach city officials proposed ending the lease of a cinema that screened the documentary.

Masked settlers assaulted activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, smashing car windows and slashing tyres, activist Josh Kimelman told The Associated Press.

Video footage showed a masked settler attacking two activists in a field at night. Rocks were heard striking their vehicle as they fled.

Tensions in the West Bank have escalated since the 1967 war, with ongoing violence between settlers and Palestinians. In Masafer Yatta, about 1,000 residents face the threat of expulsion after Israel designated the area a live-fire training zone in the 1980s.

Since the Gaza war began, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank during military operations, while settler attacks have also surged.

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