Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker attacked by Israeli settlers in West Bank

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A Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land was injured on Monday in an attack by a mob of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, one of the film’s other directors has said.

Hamdan Ballal suffered injuries to his head and stomach after a group of settlers attacked the village of Susya, Yuval Abraham said in a post on X.

The Centre for Jewish Non-violence activist group said Ballal was being treated in an ambulance when Israeli soldiers detained him and two other men. On Tuesday evening, AP reported that Ballal and the others had been released from Kiryat Arba police station.

The village of Susya is in the region of the West Bank that features heavily in the documentary, which focuses on human rights issues in occupied Palestine, including Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians.

A statement from the film’s production house claimed that the attack began when a settler, who is a US-Israeli citizen, and his son threw stones at Palestinian residents and vandalised property, including a water tank and a car owned by Ballal.

The statement said about 15 masked settlers carrying batons, knives and M-16 assault rifles were also involved in the attacks, which Israeli security troops did nothing to stop.

No Other Land, which won the Oscar this year for Best Documentary, chronicles the struggle by residents of the Masafer Yatta cluster of hamlets to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages. It has two Palestinian co-directors, Ballal and Basel Adra – both residents of Masafer Yatta – and Israeli directors Rachel Szor and Abraham.

In the 1980s, the Israeli military marked Masafer Yatta as a live-fire training area and ordered residents, mostly Arab Bedouin, to be expelled. Despite this, about 1,000 people have stayed. However, soldiers often come to tear down houses, tents, water tanks and olive orchards, leaving the residents worried about being forcibly removed at any moment.

The Israeli military confirmed arresting three Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area, without mentioning them by name, accusing them of throwing stones at Israeli settlers. "The forces arrested three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones at the force and an Israeli citizen who was involved in the violent clashes," the military said.

It denied reports that a “Palestinian was arrested while inside an ambulance”.

Watch: No Other Land wins Oscar for best documentary

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