Palestinian Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal held by Israeli soldiers after attack by settlers, activists say

A Palestinian Oscar winner who activists say was attacked by Israeli settlers before being detained by the Israeli military has been released, his co-director has said.

Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed No Other Land, had his house in the Israeli-occupied West Bank surrounded by settlers during an attack on Monday, the activists said.

His co-director Yuval Abraham – who said Mr Ballal was beaten by settlers then taken by soldiers while in an ambulance, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied – said on Tuesday afternoon that Mr Ballal had been freed.

The IDF said three Palestinians and an Israeli had been detained on suspicion of “rock hurling” at security forces.

The five activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence group (CJNV) said they had gone to the village to document the incident and had come under attack themselves, with settlers smashing their car windows, and punching and hitting them with sticks.

Earlier, an activist who was at the scene told the BBC the three detained Palestinians, including Mr Ballal, were injured in the settler attack and had been held at an Israeli police station in the West Bank.

They are suspected of throwing stones and injuring a young settler shepherd and were interrogated, the activist said, adding that they had access to a lawyer.

The attack began at about 18:00 (16:00 GMT) on Monday, when around a dozen masked settlers mounted an attack in the village of Susya, according to the activists.

Mr Ballal’s house is reported to have been surrounded by the settlers.

Yuval Abraham, the Israeli director who won the Oscar this month alongside Mr Ballal, said people had been injured and properties destroyed in the attack.

The activist who spoke to the BBC said they had complained to the Israeli soldiers that they were under attack.

They said the army initially watched the attack, then approached only as the assault on the car was ending.

The soldiers then refused to pursue the settlers, leaving them free to attack houses on the other side of the hill, the activist said.

The IDF confirmed that soldiers and police had arrived to disperse the confrontation.

They said rocks had been “hurled” at security forces.

“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 IDF said.

“The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israel Police. An Israeli citizen was injured in the incident and was evacuated to receive medical treatment.”

No Other Land – which picked up best documentary at the 97th Academy Awards – follows the fight over Masafer Yatta, a community of about 20 villages, and the friendship between Adra and Abraham.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Israeli settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

They have expanded over the past 55 years, becoming a focal point for violence and conflicting claims over land.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank has surged.