HEBRON, West Bank — After being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, Israeli authorities released a Palestinian director who recently won an Oscar. He stated that the settlers assaulted him in front of his residence while filming the incident.
Earlier this month, Hamdan Ballal and his fellow directors of “No Other Land,” a film highlighting the challenges faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation, accepted the award for best documentary at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Ballal, visibly bruised and with bloodied clothing, was released from an Israeli police station located in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. He and two other Palestinians, who were also attacked and detained, were subsequently taken to a nearby hospital.
Ballal recounted being held blindfolded for 24 hours at an army base and forced to sleep in extremely cold conditions.
“My entire body aches,” he told The Associated Press. “I could hear the soldiers laughing at me… I heard ‘Oscar,’ but I don’t speak Hebrew.”
Lea Tsemel, the lawyer representing the three men, reported that they received minimal medical attention for their injuries sustained during the attack. Furthermore, she was denied access to them for several hours following their arrest.
Palestinian residents reported that approximately two dozen settlers, some masked, some armed, and some in military attire, attacked the West Bank village of Susiya on Monday evening as residents were breaking their fast during Ramadan.
Residents added that upon arrival, soldiers pointed their weapons at the Palestinians while the settlers continued to hurl stones.
Israeli police stated on Tuesday that the military had transferred three suspects to them for investigation regarding alleged rock throwing, property damage, and “endangering regional security.” They were released on the condition that they have no contact with others involved in the incident. Tsemel stated that Ballal and the other two Palestinians denied throwing stones.
‘I’m dying!’
In testimony provided to his lawyer while in detention, Ballal stated that he went out to film the settlers as they attacked homes in the village. According to the testimony, which was reviewed by the AP, a settler known for previously threatening him appeared with two soldiers when he returned to his home.
Ballal said that as he stood at his house’s entrance, the settler punched him in the head from behind, causing him to fall. The settler then proceeded to kick him across his body and beat his head and face with his boots.
Lamia Ballal, the director’s wife, said that she was sheltering inside with their three children and heard him shouting, “I’m dying!” Looking out the window, she witnessed three uniformed men beating Ballal with the butts of their rifles, while another individual in civilian clothing appeared to be filming the assault.
“Of course, after the Oscar, they have come to attack us more,” Lamia stated. “I felt afraid.”
West Bank settlers are often armed and sometimes wear military-style clothing, making it difficult to distinguish them from soldiers.
On Tuesday, a small bloodstain was visible outside their home, and the car’s windshield and windows were shattered. Neighbors pointed to a nearby water tank with a hole that they said had been made by the settlers.
The settler who assaulted Ballal is seen in a widely circulated video from April, accompanied by masked men, threatening him.
“This is my land, I was given it by God,” the settler yells in the video, using profanity and attempting to provoke Ballal into a fight. “Next time it won’t be nice,” the settler warns.
Film looked at Palestinians’ struggle to stay on the land
“No Other Land” documents the struggle of residents in the Masafer Yatta area to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing their villages.
The joint Israeli-Palestinian production has received numerous international awards, beginning at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. It has also faced criticism in Israel and abroad, such as when Miami Beach considered terminating the lease of a movie theater that screened it.
Basel Adra, another co-director of the film and a prominent Palestinian activist in the area, stated that there has been a significant increase in attacks by settlers and Israeli forces since the Oscar win.
“Nobody can do anything to stop the pogroms, and soldiers are only there to facilitate and help the attacks,” he said. “We’re living in dark days here, in Gaza, and all of the West Bank… Nobody’s stopping this.”
Jewish activists in the area were also attacked by masked settlers wielding sticks on Monday, who smashed their car windows and slashed their tires, according to Josh Kimelman, an activist with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. Video provided by the group showed a masked settler shoving and swinging his fists at two activists in a dusty field at night.
Open-ended military rule
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek all three territories for their future state and view settlement expansion as a major impediment to a two-state solution. The majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal.
Israel has constructed well over 100 settlements, housing over 500,000 Israeli citizens. The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under what appears to be indefinite Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
The Israeli military designated Masafer Yatta in the southern West Bank as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered the expulsion of residents, primarily Arab Bedouin. Around 1,000 residents have largely remained, but soldiers regularly demolish homes, tents, water tanks, and olive orchards.
Settlers have also established outposts in the area and at times attack villages. Palestinians and rights groups report that Israeli forces typically turn a blind eye or intervene on behalf of the settlers.
The war in Gaza has led to a surge in violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military conducting extensive military operations that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and the displacement of tens of thousands. There has also been an increase in settler violence, as well as Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
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