Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal has reportedly been attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, just weeks after his documentary No Other Land took home the coveted Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
According to Ballal’s co-director Yuval Abraham, the filmmaker was assaulted by a “group of settlers” in his home village of Susya on Monday evening. Abraham took to X to share the news, stating that Ballal had suffered injuries to his head and stomach.
“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,” Abraham wrote on X.
As of Tuesday morning, Ballal’s whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said, “Contrary to claims, no Palestinian who was inside an ambulance was arrested,” per NBC News.
According to the IDF spokesperson, “violent clashes” between Israelis and Palestinians developed near Susiya when “several terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians and damaged their vehicles”.
“In response, the forces arrested three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones at the force and an Israeli citizen who was involved in the violent clashes. The detainees were taken to the Israel Police for further questioning. An Israeli citizen who was injured in the incident was taken for medical treatment.”
Eyewitnesses from the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence, who were present during the attack, described a harrowing scene. The group reported that a group of 10 to 20 masked settlers, many of them teenagers, descended upon the village armed with sticks, stones, and knives, per AP News. The attackers reportedly vandalised homes, destroyed water tanks, and stole security cameras.
The violence was reportedly not limited to Ballal alone. Jewish American activists who were documenting the incident also found themselves targeted. Anna Lippman, an activist with the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence, shared footage with NBC News of masked individuals chasing her group and smashing their car windows.
The incident has sparked outrage among human rights organisations and fellow filmmakers. The International Documentary Association has demanded Ballal’s immediate release: “We demand Ballal’s immediate release and that his family and community be informed about his condition, location, and the justification for his detention,” they shared in a statement via Variety.
This attack comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region, as Israel broke the brief ceasefire with a wave of airstrikes last week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the attack was “only the beginning”.
Lead image: Getty Images
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