Oscar-winning Palestinian director missing after being ‘attacked and blindfolded’
There has been 'no sign of him since'.
It has been reported that Palestinian filmmaker, Hamdan Ballal, has been detained and beaten by the Israeli military.
Activists have reported that the director, who won an Oscar this year for No Other Land for best documentary feature, was attacked by 10 to 20 Israeli settlers.
Ballal’s co-director Yuval Abraham tweeted 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.’
It was reported that the filmmaker was blindfolded and detained in the Israeli-occupied West Bank area.
Abraham later gave an update on social media: ‘Note: Hamdan was assaulted and beaten up, not murdered. My use of ‘lynched’ was a mistranslation from Hebrew (English isn’t my first language).
‘He’s injured and being held at a police station in a settlement. They did not let his lawyer speak to him yet so we don’t know more.’
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Previous Page Next Page The director was seen with his eyes covered being led into a van (Picture: AP) No Other Land follows a group of Palestinian activists (Picture: REUTERS)Abraham also shared videos on X of the alleged attackers, claiming the group continues to attack American activists.
A witness who saw the scene told The New York Times: ‘Soldiers just stood around,’ he added: ‘Later, when we got there, we saw his blood on the ground.’
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told Sky News: ‘Several terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles near Susya.’
They reported that there was ‘mutual rock-hurling between Palestinians and Israelis at the scene.
‘In response, the forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israeli police. An Israeli citizen was injured in the incident and was evacuated to receive medical treatment.
‘Contrary to claims, no Palestinian was apprehended from inside an ambulance.’
The incident comes as the Israeli military has been raiding the West Bank area in what is said to be an effort to crack down on militant groups.
Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham (L-R) directed the documentary (Picture: REUTERS)To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
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Previous Page Next PageNo Other Land follows a Palestinian activist Adra, who has been pushing back against the forced displacement of his people by Israel’s military in Masafer Yatta, a region in the West Bank, since he was a child.
The film documents his home is destroyed as soldiers tear down homes and evict communities so they can construct a military firing zone.
Filmed over four years between 2019 and 2023, the film utilises an archive of videos filmed by Adra’s family and neighbours over 20 years.
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