“A group of Israeli settlers assaulted… There has been no contact since soldiers stormed the ambulance.” According to AFP and other foreign media, Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal, who made this year’s Academy Award-winning documentary ‘No Other Land,’ was reportedly attacked by Israeli settlers at his home in the West Bank yesterday (24th local time) and then taken away by Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal being taken away by Israeli soldiers / Photo: Yonhap News
, It is reported that his current condition is unknown.
According to reports, Yuval Avraham, the producer of ‘No Other Land,’ stated on his X (formerly Twitter) account that a group of Israeli settlers attacked Ballal, after which Israeli soldiers arrested him.
Avraham wrote, “They assaulted him, and he was bleeding from his head and abdomen,” adding, “Soldiers stormed the ambulance he called and took him away. There has been no news about him since.”
Co-director Bazel Adra, who worked with Ballal on ‘No Other Land,’ told CNN that he received a call from Ballal and saw a man being taken away when he arrived at his home in Susiya village in the West Bank.
Adra stated that a group of Israeli settlers was outside Ballal’s home at the time, and some were throwing stones.
He also mentioned that Israeli police and military were nearby, and soldiers were firing guns to prevent people from approaching.
In response to AFP’s inquiry, the Israeli military said they were checking the information.
Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal (left) / Photo: Yonhap News
, Ballal won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature earlier this month for ‘No Other Land,’ which deals with the realities of Palestinian residents in the West Bank.
Originally a Palestinian farmer, he shared his experiences of facing threats from Israeli settlers to seize his home and land in the film.
CNN reported that at the scene of Ballal’s arrest, five American activists from the NGO ‘Center for Jewish Nonviolence’ opposing Israeli settlements in the West Bank were also attacked by Israeli settlers.
The organization claimed that dozens of settlers attacked the village with clubs and knives, and that there were individuals who fired rifles.
An activist from the organization, Josh Kimmelman, told CNN that Israeli soldiers were present at the scene but did nothing to stop them.