Hamdan Ballal, one of the Palestinian directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers and detained by the Israeli authorities, according to his co-directors and a Jewish activist group.
Yuval Abraham, one of the Israeli co-directors on the film, wrote on X Monday, March 24, “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. No sign of him since.”
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV), an activist group with members who were on the scene, said Ballal is currently being held at a police station, though details about his condition remain unclear.
The group said “dozens of settlers” attacked the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern West Bank at around 6 p.m. local time Monday. Some of the attackers were masked, while others allegedly carried batons, knives, and at least one assault rifle. The assailants allegedly attacked “two homes, destroyed water tanks, and stole security cameras.”
Basel Adra, No Other Land’s other Palestinian co-director, wrote on X, “I’m standing with Karam, Hamdan’s 7 year old son, near the blood of Hamdan’s in his house, after settlers lynched him. Hamdan, co-director of our film No Other Land, is still missing after soldiers abducted him, injured and bleeding. This is how they erase Masafer Yatta.”
Ballal was injured during the attack, and before he could have his injuries treated, soldiers allegedly arrested him. Two other Palestinian men from Susiya were also detained, according to the CJNV. A representative for the Israeli Ministry of Defense did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Five Jewish American activists from CJNV said they responded to, and witnessed, the attack. Speaking with The Guardian, they said the Israeli settlers chased Ballal into his house and handed him over to the military. Inside Ballal’s home, they said, they found blood on the floor, which a family member said was from when Ballal was hit on the head.
‘‘The settlers destroyed his car with stones and slashed one of the tyres,’’ one witness added. ‘‘All the windows and windshields were broken.’’
A joint Palestinian-Israeli production, Ballal co-directed No Other Land with Abraham, Adra, and Rachel Shore. Made between 2019 and 2023, the film documents Israel’s violent treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, with a particular focus on Masafer Yatta, where both Adra and Ballal live. While the film notably struggled to find distribution in the U.S., it earned wide critical acclaim, as well as criticism, and won Best Documentary at the 2025 Academy Awards.
From Rolling Stone US
