(L-R) Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, winners of the Best Documentary Feature Film for “No Other Land”, attend the 97th Annual Oscars Governors Ball. Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images

By Olivia Haynie March 24, 2025

Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was beaten by settlers in the West Bank, detained by Israeli soldiers overnight and has now been let free, according to a group of activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence and the film’s co-director, Yuval Abraham.

The alleged incident occurred during a settler attack on Susya, a Palestinian village in the region of Masafer Yatta, where No Other Land was filmed. It is under Area C, in which it is under both Israeli land and security control.

The documentary, made by a group of Israelis and Palestinians, documents the destruction of Masafer Yatta by the Israeli government and settler attacks.

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According to a representative for CJNV, which works with Palestinians on nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation, at around 6 p.m. local time, an Israeli settler was shepherding near a Palestinian home in Susya and antagonizing residents. When the residents told the settler to leave, a group of settlers appeared, many wearing masks and carrying weapons, and began attacking Palestinian homes.

Five Jewish activists who are part of a CJNV co-resistance program in Masafer Yatta responded to calls about a school in Susya being attacked. When they approached the school the masked settlers appeared and began attacking them with rocks and sticks. As the activists retreated to their car, the settlers continued to attack them and threw rocks at the car, heavily damaging it, before running away.

One of the activists, Raviv Rose, said the Israeli army appeared, but was slow to action.

“The army just basically stood there and we started shouting for them to go and chase the settlers,” Rose said. “We’re saying ‘They destroyed our car. Look at what they did.'”

According to Rose, the soldiers didn’t move and instead told the activists “Everything is fine.”

When the activists tried to go back to the school to check if the settlers were returning, Rose said, the army refused to give them access. They, and another international activist, saw the army then detain three Palestinian activists near the school and load them into an army vehicle, zip-tied and blindfolded.

Rose said the activists eventually made it to Hamdan’s house, where they saw a pool of blood and were told that a group of settlers had beaten Ballal and caused injury to his head.

On Monday afternoon, Abraham described the attack as a lynching in a post on X, and that Israeli soldiers took Ballal from the ambulance that arrived to take him to the hospital. A CJNV representative reports that Ballal is currently being held at an Israeli police station.

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

Abraham also posted a video that he says shows the settlers attacking the activists.

Basel Adra, the film’s other Palestinian director, wrote on X in response to the incident, “This is how they erase Masafer Yatta.”

Responding to an email inquiry on Monday night, the Media Inquiry Desk from the Israel Defense Forces said that on Monday, a violent altercation occurred near Susya which began with Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli citizens, prompting “mutual rock-hurling between Palestinians and Israelis at the scene.” According to the inquiry,  the IDF and the Israeli police forces to arrive to disperse the confrontation, after which Palestinians began hurling rocks at the forces.

“In response, the forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation,” the Media Inquiry Desk said. “Among the detainees is Hamdan Bilal, who is suspected of hurling rocks at the forces.”

On Tuesday, Abraham announced on X that Bilal had spent the night at the Kiryat Arba police station, in which he was handcuffed and blindfolded while two soldiers beat him up on the floor.

Later on Tuesday, Abraham said on X that Bilal was free and returning to his family.

Samuel Eli Shepherd contributed reporting.

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