A PALESTINIAN co-director behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land is now in hospital after being "handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor".
Hamdan Ballal, who won the Oscar for best documentary just last month, was released on Tuesday after reports he was beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by the Israeli military in the Palestinian village of Susiya in the occupied West Bank.
Basel Adra, another co-director of No Other Land, witnessed the detention and said around two dozen settlers — some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform — attacked the village.
Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while settlers continued throwing stones.
The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians — a claim witnesses interviewed by AP disputed.
The military said it had transferred them from a military base to Israeli police for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli citizen from the area to receive medical treatment.
Lawyer Lea Tsemel said Ballal was "handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor."
On Tuesday, it was confirmed by fellow co-director Yuval Abraham that Ballal had been released and would soon be "about to go home to his family".
Hamdan Ballal is free and is about to go home to his family
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 25, 2025
Later that day, Adra shared a post on Twitter/X confirming Ballal had been released and was receiving treatment in hospital.
Images show Ballal wearing a jumper stained with blood while two doctors attended.
Adra said: "Hamdan has been released and is currently in the hospital in Hebron receiving treatment.
Hamdan has been released and is currently in the hospital in Hebron receiving treatment. He was beaten by soldiers and settlers all over his body. The soldiers left him blindfolded and handcuffed throughout of military base last night. pic.twitter.com/Eis0J3CS24
— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) March 25, 2025
"He was beaten by soldiers and settlers all over his body. The soldiers left him blindfolded and handcuffed throughout of military base last night."
No Other Land, which won the Oscar this year for best documentary, chronicles the struggle by residents of Masafer Yatta to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages.
It has two Palestinian co-directors, Ballal and Adra, both residents of Masafar Yatta, and two Israeli directors, Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The joint Palestinian-Israeli production has won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024.
