Israeli settlers in West Bank attack Oscar-winning Palestinian co-director

Filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary film "No Other Land", was later detained by the Israeli military

Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed the documentary film “No Other Land”, was attacked and “lynched” by Israeli settlers in Susiya village in the occupied West Bank before being detained by the Israeli military.  Lea Tsemel, the attorney for Hamdan Ballal, said that he will be released. He further added that he (Ballal) and two other Palestinians spent the night on the floor of a military base while suffering from serious injuries sustained in the attack.

 

The incident happened on Monday when attackers surrounded his house. Ballal is one of four co-directors of the documentary film which won the Oscar this year for best documentary.

 

 

Israeli Co-director Yuval Abraham, took to X to inform about the attack. He said Ballal had been beaten and taken by soldiers while in an ambulance.

 

“A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our film “No Other Land”. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since,” he said.

 

“They did not let his lawyer speak to him yet so we don’t know more,” he added.

 

A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.

— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025

 

Another Palestinian co-director Basel Adra, in a conversation with the news agency The Associated Press (AP), said he witnessed the detention. He added that around two dozen settlers, some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform, attacked the village. He asserted that soldiers who had arrived at the spot pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while the Israeli settlers continued throwing stones.  ALSO READ | Over 65 killed in Gaza strike as Egypt offers new ceasefire proposal

 

“We came back from the Oscars and every day since there has been an attack on us. This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment,” Adra told  AP.

 

Without naming Ballal, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that three Palestinians and one Israeli had been detained on suspicion of hurling rocks at security forces, the AP report said.

 

The Oscar-winning documentary film “No Other Land” is about the struggle of the residents of Masafer Yatta, a collection of 19 Palestinian hamlets in the southern West Bank, to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages.

 

Ballal and Adra, both from Masafar Yatta, made the film with Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.