Family, acquaintances, coworkers, eyewitnesses, and his attorney all claim that Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning movie “No Other Land,” Hamdan Ballal, was beaten by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, dragged away by Israeli forces, and held overnight.
After being released from custody on Tuesday afternoon, Ballal’s attorney, Leah Tzemel, said that he had been “arbitrarily” detained in police custody in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba’a in the occupied West Bank and that Israeli soldiers had abused him while he was being held.
He was taken to a hospital in Hebron after being released, where his injuries were treated, according to his brother Nimer.
Ballal’s co-director, Basel Adra, told CNN that he left the hospital despite being bruised and dehydrated. His brother stated that he has since gone back to his family in Susya, which is in the occupied West Bank.
Ballal’s wife, Lamya, said, sobbing, from inside her Susya village home on Tuesday afternoon that her husband had been attacked by three settlers in front of their home immediately after Iftar, the sunset breaking of the Ramadan fast.
“I saw a group of settlers attacking the village,” she added, “but they chased me when I tried to document them.”
A group of other settlers flung stones at the door and “tried to penetrate the house from the windows,” where she and her three frightened children were taking refuge, while the men beat Ballal with brass knuckles and the butt of a rifle to his skull, she claimed.
Adra said that after Ballal contacted him in panic on Monday night, he had gone to his house. He came to witness the removal of Ballal and at least one other individual.
According to Adra, there were also Israeli military personnel, Israeli police, and a group of masked Israeli settlers outside the house, and Israeli soldiers were shooting at everyone who attempted to approach.
On Tuesday, CNN discovered a gunshot casing on the ground a short distance from Ballal’s front door.
The Israeli military said it had arrived at the scene of a “violent confrontation” between Palestinians and Israelis who were throwing rocks at each other. It said the fight had broken out after several “terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles.”
It stated that after “several terrorists” threw rocks at the security forces, three Palestinians and one Israeli were brought in for interrogation.
Ballal received injuries to his head and abdomen, according to Yuval Abraham, another Israeli co-director of the movie who was not present when the incident occurred.
The settlers also attacked Ballal’s neighbour, Najah Mughanam, and her husband, who is a 60-year-old sheep farmer.
She claimed, “They attacked my husband with a shovel for the second time in a week.” The settlers had invaded their property. Along with an attempt to take their sheep, a knife was used to slit their water tank on Monday.
Mughanam stated that settler violence has escalated in her town since the start of the war. “We’ve been attacked more than 45 times here in Susya since October 7,” she added.
