TEL AVIV, Israel — Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian directors of the Oscar-winning documentary, No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to eyewitnesses and his attorney. Ballal was then detained by Israeli forces but was released on Tuesday.
Ballal's lawyer, Lea Tsemel, told NPR that her client said he was punched and kicked by settlers.
Several residents and activists also described a violent scene that night.
Nasser Nawajah, who lives in Susiya, the same Palestinian village as Ballal, told NPR that a group of masked Israeli settlers came Monday evening, right as people were getting ready to break the daily fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The settlers attacked houses, smashed cars and started attacking people, he said. Ballal was among those who were hurt.
Just a few weeks ago, Ballal was onstage with fellow filmmakers in Los Angeles accepting the Academy Award for a movie that documents how Israeli settlers use attacks and threats to intimidate Palestinians and push them to leave their homes. Now, Ballal has come into focus again after living through such violence.
The Israeli military said in a statement that security forces "apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation," and took them in for questioning. Witnesses and activists denied Ballal threw stones.
"He is committed, like us, to principles of nonviolence," said Joshua Kimmelman, a 28-year-old American who is part of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. The group integrates with Palestinian villages it says are at risk of Israeli attacks. "We call it protective presence," he said.
On Monday, Kimmelman said he received an alert from Susiya and drove along with other activists to the area to try to de-escalate the tense situation, but also document it.
The Center for Jewish Nonviolence provided NPR video filmed by the activists that night showing the masked settlers attacking them in the same area. Attackers hurl rocks at the activists' car, smashing the windshield and breaking the car windows while they are inside. It was around the same time Ballal was attacked.
Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have risen since the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023. Palestinian residents say the Israeli security forces often turn a blind eye.
Yanal Jabarin contributed to this story from Jerusalem, Nuha Musleh contributed from Ramallah.
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