Key Points
- Oscar-winning filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers on the occupied West Bank, said his co-director.
- The Israeli army said that three Palestinian suspects, like an Israeli civilians, were held.
- Hamdan Ballal won an Oscar this year for his documentary no other country.
The Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary no other country was attacked by settlers and arrested by the Israeli army on Monday on the occupied West Bank, according to his co-director Yuval Abraham.
In a post on X, Abraham said that a “group of settlers” had set up Hamdan Ballal.
“They hit him and he has injuries in his head and belly, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance that he called and took him with him. No sign of him since,” Abraham wrote.
The incident took place in the southern village of Susya, according to the Anti-OCCupation NGO Center for Jewish non-violence, whose members said they have filmed the events firsthand.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that four Palestinians, including Ballal, were injured in an attack by settlers. According to the report, armed settlers threw stones into the inhabitants, houses and cars of the village.
It was said that Ballal had hit the head through a stone, and initially nothing was known about his place of residence or condition.
Lawyer Leah Tsemmel said the police told her that they are being held on a military basis for medical treatment and that she was unable to talk to them.
Palestinian activists and observers reported that Israeli soldiers took the wounded ballal from an ambulance and held him.
The Israeli army said in a statement that three Palestinian suspects, like an Israeli citizen, were held, but denied that a Palestinian “had been arrested from an ambulance”.
It said: “Several terrorists swing stones to Israeli citizens and damage their vehicles near Susya [in the West Bank]. After this, a violent confrontation broke out, involving mutual rock-hurling between Palestinians and Israelis on the spot. “
The army continued to say that when the police arrived, “several terrorists swing stones to them”.
“In response, the troops arrested three Palestinians who were suspected of swinging stones at them, as well as an Israeli citizen involved in the violent confrontation. The prisoners were taken for further interrogation by the Israeli police,” said the statement.
It also said that an Israeli citizen was injured and was evacuated to receive medical care.
Abraham posted a video on X with masked men who ran to the camera, one of them throws a rock at it and the screen turns black.
“The group of armed kkk-like-masked settlers who no other country director Hamdan Ballal (still missing) lynched, caught on camera here,” was the message.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
No other country, directed by the Israeli-Palestinian activists, won the best documentary during this year’s Academy Awards.
Included in nearby Masafer Yatta, follows the documentary a young Palestinian who is struggling with forced displacement while the Israeli army tears down the houses of its community to make room for a shooting zone.
The Israeli army declared Masafer Yatta a limited military zone in the 1980s.
The western Jordoever, excluding East Jerusalem, is the home of about three million Palestinians, as well as almost half a million Israelis who live in settlements that are illegal under international law.
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