Hamdan Ballal, the celebrated Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was violently attacked by armed Israeli settlers and later arrested by the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank.

According to local sources in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, Ballal was surrounded at his home in Susya by a mob of at least 15 masked and armed settlers. Witnesses report that the settlers—backed by soldiers and others dressed in military uniform—chased Ballal to his home, assaulted him, and then handed him over to the Israeli military.

Ballal, known for his courageous documentation of Israel’s colonial violence in the West Bank, was detained alongside another Palestinian man, identified only as Nasser. Both were taken to an Israeli police station. No official reason for the arrest has been given, and the circumstances raise serious concerns about arbitrary detention and targeted suppression of Palestinian activists and artists.

Ballal is one of the co-directors of No Other Land, a powerful documentary that exposed the ongoing ethnic cleansing and home demolitions in Masafer Yatta. The film, which recently won the Best Documentary Award at the 2024 Oscars, shines an unflinching light on Israel’s war against Palestinian existence in the West Bank.

The film’s international acclaim has brought the reality of Israeli apartheid and occupation to global audiences—making Ballal’s arrest appear to be a deliberate attempt by the occupation to silence Palestinian testimony and cultural resistance.

Human rights groups have long warned about increasing settler violence in Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian communities live under constant threat of displacement, armed raids, and state-backed settler terrorism. The arrest of Ballal, in the very area documented in his award-winning film, is a glaring example of Israel’s ongoing campaign to criminalize Palestinian resistance—even through peaceful documentation.

Palestinian activists and supporters around the world have condemned the arrest and demanded Ballal’s immediate release. They view the attack as part of a broader Israeli strategy to erase Palestinian presence from their ancestral lands and to silence any voices exposing the brutal reality of occupation.

As of now, Ballal’s whereabouts remain unknown, and there is growing concern for his safety in the hands of an apartheid regime that routinely tortures, humiliates, and detains Palestinians without charge. (ILKHA)