Palestinian Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal, co-director of No Other Land, was reportedly attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Monday. Activists say that settlers surrounded his house in the village of Susya, where they physically assaulted him. Afterward, he was detained by Israeli soldiers while being transported in an ambulance, though the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied that any Palestinian had been detained from an ambulance. Ballal was later released.
The incident, which occurred around 18:00, also involved five Jewish American activists who had come to document the event and were attacked by the settlers as well. Settlers allegedly smashed car windows and physically assaulted the activists. The IDF responded by detaining three Palestinians, including Ballal, on suspicion of throwing stones at security forces. The IDF also confirmed that an Israeli settler was injured during the confrontation. The violence is part of a broader pattern of escalated settler aggression in the West Bank, particularly since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.