March 25, 2025 (EIRNS)—The Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary film “No Other Land”, Hamdan Ballal, survived a beating by West Bank Israeli settlers on the evening of March 24, only to be handcuffed, blindfolded, and arrested by Israeli security forces, according to multiple news reports. According to the Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham, the settlers also attempted to lynch Ballal. The detained Ballal spent the night “on the floor” of an Israeli security facility with apparently little or no attention to the wounds he suffered during the attack. Ballal was released the following morning. Another Palestinian co-director, Basel Adra, said, “We came back from the Oscars, and every day since there is an attack on us. It feels like a punishment.”
Adra witnessed much of the events and said that around two dozen settlers—some carrying guns, some with masks, and some in Israeli uniforms, attacked the West Bank village of Masafer Yatta shortly after residents broke the daily fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to Adra, a settler who has often participated in attacks on the village walked over to Ballal’s home with Israeli military soldiers following him. Eventually the settlers attacked Ballal in front of his home where Ballal is reported to have screamed, “I’m dying.” Blood was seen outside of the front door of the house. Adra then saw Israeli soldiers take Ballal handcuffed and blindfolded to a military vehicle.
