Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian co-director of the Oscar -winning documentary No Other Land, was beaten in the occupied West Bank and later detained by Israeli forces, according to his fellow filmmaker and an activist group. On Monday, settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta region, damaging property, the activist group Center for Jewish Nonviolence stated. Among those injured was Ballal, who sustained a bloody head wound.
Activists said he was receiving medical treatment in an ambulance when soldiers arrested him and another Palestinian man. Josh Kimelman, one of the activists who was at the scene, told The Associated Press news agency: “We don’t know where Hamdan is because he was taken away in a blindfold.” During the attack, a group of 10 to 20 masked settlers allegedly assaulted Jewish activists with stones and sticks, vandalising cars by smashing windows and slashing tires.
Footage from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence captured one settler throwing punches at two activists, who then ran back to their vehicle. His co-director, Yuval Abraham, shared details on X, alleging that Ballal had also suffered a stomach injury. Abraham wrote: “A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our film No Other Land.
“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.
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