Who Is Hamdan Ballal, The Oscar-winning Palestinian Director Lynched In West Bank By Israeli Settlers?

Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Monday, according to reports shared by an online activist.

Attack on Ballal in Susiya

The incident took place in the Palestinian village of Susiya, located in the Masafer Yatta area, which has been the site of ongoing tensions. The news was first reported on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by Ihab Hassan, an activist known for sharing updates from Gaza.

Hassan’s post read: “BREAKING: Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the film No Other Land, was lynched and severely beaten by Israeli settlers in a large-scale attack on the village of Susiya. Settlers raided homes, hurled stones, smashed windows and vehicles, and violently assaulted residents and solidarity activists. Several people were injured.”

He further claimed that when an ambulance arrived to treat Ballal, Israeli soldiers stormed the vehicle and took him away. “There has been no sign of him since,” he added.

Hamdan Ballal Arrested By Israeli Forces

Hassan also attached video footage to his post. One clip, recorded from inside a car, captures the sound of a blunt object striking the vehicle while a woman’s voice is heard saying, “Get in the car.” Another video shows an individual throwing a punch at another person as someone off-camera shouts, “No.”

In a follow-up post, Hassan stated that Ballal had been arrested by the Israeli military.

Israeli journalist and No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham also posted about the attack on X. “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,” he wrote.

The Israeli military has acknowledged awareness of the incident and stated that they are looking into the matter, according to the Associated Press.

Who is Hamdan Ballal?

Over the years, Hamdan Ballal has taken on multiple roles—farmer, photographer, activist, and researcher. As a human rights advocate, he contributed to the Humans of Masafer Yatta project, which highlights the struggles of Palestinians in the West Bank’s Masafer Yatta, a cluster of 19 Palestinian hamlets.

Ballal also volunteers as a field researcher for human rights organizations, including the Jerusalem-based NGO B’Tselem, documenting abuses by Israeli settlers in the region.

No Other Land, Ballal’s directorial debut, follows Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist resisting the Israeli military’s displacement of his community in Masafer Yatta. As he captures the destruction of his homeland, he forms an unlikely friendship with Yuval, a Jewish Israeli journalist who supports his cause.

No Other Land

Ballal is one of four co-directors of No Other Land, a documentary filmed between 2019 and 2023 that chronicles the struggles of a Palestinian community designated as an Israeli “firing zone.” The film, which also features directors Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor, won the Best Documentary Feature Film award at the 97th Academy Awards. Adra and Ballal are Palestinian, while Abraham and Szor are Israeli.

The film has received widespread acclaim but has also faced criticism from Israeli officials. After its Oscar win, Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar condemned the award, calling it “a sad moment for the world of cinema.” He further accused the filmmakers of amplifying narratives that “distort Israel’s image.”

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