‘No Other Land’ director Hamdan Ballal attacked by Jewish settlers and arrested, activists say

A Palestinian filmmaker who was part of a team that won an Oscar for “No Other Land,” a documentary depicting life under Israeli occupation, was beaten by West Bank settlers and then arrested by Israeli forces, his co-director said Monday.

Director Yuval Abraham said on X that co-director Hamdan Ballal was beaten by a “group of settlers” and had sustained injuries to his head and stomach in the Palestinian village of Susiya, Masafer Yatta. He added that Ballal was able to call an ambulance but that Israeli soldiers took him from it. 

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said, “Contrary to claims, no Palestinian who was inside an ambulance was arrested” Monday. 

The IDF spokesperson said “violent clashes” between Israelis and Palestinians erupted near Susiya in the Yehuda Brigade. The “clashes” developed after, the IDF said, “several terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians and damaged their vehicles. 

“When IDF and police forces arrived at the scene to disperse the clashes, several terrorists began throwing stones at the security forces,” the spokesperson said in a statement, which NBC News translated from Hebrew. “In response, the forces arrested three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones at the force and an Israeli citizen who was involved in the violent clashes. The detainees were taken to the Israel Police for further questioning. An Israeli citizen who was injured in the incident was taken for medical treatment.”

The spokesperson did not say whether Ballal is in custody. 

Reached by NBC News, Abraham said he is unaware of Ballal’s status or whereabouts. He described Monday as “a terrifying night.” He was not there at the time of the attack, but he said he spoke with activists and local Palestinian eyewitnesses. 

Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and forces has soared since the start of the war in Gaza. Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets in the southern part of the West Bank that is the subject of “No Other Land,” has been a focus of Israeli demolitions since the 1980s, after the Israeli military declared the area a restricted military zone. 

Anna Lippman, an activist with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, an organization that promotes Palestinian-led nonviolent civil resistance, said she was among the group of international activists who were attacked by “over a dozen Israeli settlers.” 

Videos and photos Lippman shared with NBC News that she said she took appear to show several masked people chasing her and other activists into their car, shattering its windows. A man wearing a mask appears to shove Lippman and swings his fists at her. 

Lippman said in a message that Ballal, who does not appear in the video she captured, was hurt earlier Monday and “is still in custody and we are unsure where.”

Five Jewish activists, including Lippman, were in the West Bank participating in a “three-month long coresistance project,” the Center for Jewish Nonviolence said in a news release. The group went to the village of Susiya after it responded to “calls to come and support residents who were under attack.”

A two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed last week when Israel resumed its bombing campaign in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 700 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave run by the militant group.

Israel and the Trump administration have blamed Hamas for the resumption of hostilities, citing the militant group’s refusal to meet Israel’s demand to release more hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, in return for the resumption of talks. 

But that was not part of the original three-phase ceasefire agreement, which went into effect Jan. 19. The first phase of that deal ended March 1. Phase two never began.

Abraham and Ballal were at the Oscars this month, when they accepted the award for best documentary feature onstage alongside filmmakers Rachel Szor and Basel Adra.

“No Other Land,” one of the best-reviewed documentary features of last year, did not secure theatrical distribution in the United States — a fact that the filmmakers attributed to political sensitivities around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The documentary screened at independent cinemas in selected cities; digital screeners were made available for academy voters and some members of the media.

A spokesperson for Cinetic Media, which handles media inquiries for “No Other Land,” told NBC News that the company is aware of Abraham’s post on X about Ballalis, but did not have any other information to share Monday afternoon.

In their acceptance speech, Abraham and Adra pleaded for an end to the conflict.

“We made this film, Palestinian and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said. “We see each other. The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end. The Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7 must be freed.”

In his statement to NBC News on Monday, Abraham also issued a call for viewers of the documentary to “take action.” 

“Hamdan, who was beaten up, came up with the idea to make ‘No Other Land,’” he said. “So that this brutal reality ends. It is now up to the millions who have seen our film to take action to change it.”