A Palestinian filmmaker who was part of a team that won an Oscar for “No Other Land”, a documentary that represents life under Israeli occupation, was defeated by the holiday settlers and then arrested by the Israeli forces, his co -director said Monday.
The Yuval Director Abraham said in X that co -director Hamdan Ballal He was beaten by a “group of settlers” and had suffered head injuries and stomach in the Palestinian town of Susiya, Masafer Yatta. He added that Ballal could call an ambulance, but that Israeli soldiers took him out of it.
A spokesman for Israel’s defense forces said: “Contrary to the statements, no Palestinian who was inside an ambulance was arrested” on Monday.
The FDI spokesman said “violent clashes” between the Israelis and the Palestinians burst near Susiya in the Yehuda Brigade. The “clashes” later developed, the IDF said: “Several terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians and damaged their vehicles.
“When the FDIs and the police forces arrived at the scene to disperse the clashes, several terrorists began throwing stones at the security forces,” said the spokesman in a statement, that NBC News translated from the Hebrew. “In response, the forces arrested three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones by force and an Israeli citizen who was involved in violent clashes. The detainees were taken to the Israel police to interrogate more. An Israeli citizen who was injured in the incident was taken by medical treatment.”
The spokesman did not say if Ballal is in custody.
Reached by NBC News, Abraham said he does not know the state or whereabouts of Ballal. He described Monday as “a terrifying night.” He was not there at the time of the attack, but said he spoke with local Palestinian eye activists and witnesses.
Violence against the Palestinians by Israeli settlers and forces has shot himself since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the southern part of the West Bank that is subject to “any other land”, has been a focus of Israeli demolitions since the 1980s, after the Israeli army declared that the area was a restricted military zone.
Anna Lippman, an activist of the Jewish Non -Violence Center, an organization that promotes non -violent civil resistance led by Palestine, said it was among the group of international activists who were attacked by “more than a dozen Israeli settlers.”
Videos and photos Lippman shared with NBC News that he said that he seemed to show several masked people who persecute her other activists in their car, destroying their windows. A man who wears a mask seems to push Lippman and swing his fists towards her.
Lippman said in a message that Ballal, that does not appear in the video he captured, was injured on Monday and “is still in custody and we are not sure where.”
Five Jewish activists, including Lippman, were in the West Bank participating in a “three -month -old choresest project,” said the Jewish non -violence center in a press release. The group went to the town of Susiya after responding to “calls to come and support residents who were under attack.”
A two -month fire between Israel and Hamas collapsed last week when Israel resumed his bombing campaign in Gaza. Israeli air attacks have killed more than 700 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave led by the militant group.
Israel and the Trump administration have blamed Hamas for the resumption of hostilities, citing the refusal of the militant group to meet Israel’s demand to free more hostages taken in the attacks of October 7, 2023, in exchange for the resumption of conversations.
But that was not part of the original three -phase fire agreement, which entered into force on January 19. The first phase of that agreement ended on March 1. Phase two never started.
Abraham and Ballal were in the Oscars this month, when they accepted the award for the best documentary feature film on stage along with the filmmakers Rachel Szor and Basel Adra.
“No other land”, one of the best reviewed documentary characteristics of last year, did not ensure theatrical distribution in the United States, a fact that filmmakers attributed to political sensibilities around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The documentary was projected in independent cinemas in selected cities; Digital examiners were made available to academia voters and some media members.
A spokesman for Cinetic Media, who manages the consultations of the media of “no other land,” News told NBC that the The company is aware of Abraham’s publication about X about Ballalis, but had no other information to share on Monday afternoon.
In their acceptance speech, Abraham and Adra asked for the end of the conflict.
“We made this movie, Palestine and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said. “See you. The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end. Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7 must be released.”
In his statement to NBC News on Monday, Abraham also issued a call for the viewers of the documentary to “take action.”
“A Hamdan, who was beaten, came up with the idea of making ‘no other land’,” he said. “For this brutal reality to end. Now it depends on the millions who have seen our film take measures to change it.”
