Ramallah, West Bank – Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was released from detention on Tuesday after being injured and arrested during a violent raid by Israeli settlers on his village, Susiya, in the occupied West Bank.

Ballal, who won an Academy Award earlier this year for his documentary highlighting Israeli displacement of Palestinian communities, said he had been assaulted while filming settlers attacking a neighbor’s house. He later went outside to protect his own home when he was confronted by settlers and Israeli security forces.

“I was just waiting outside, if any settlers or any army were attacking my home,” Ballal told Reuters after his release. “They pushed me to the ground while soldiers yelled at me to stand up and pointed their guns at me. It’s crazy—you can imagine your family, your kids inside the home, and you need to protect them.”

The attack occurred on Monday evening during an Iftar gathering, marking the end of the daily Ramadan fast. According to Jihad Nawajaa, head of the Susiya local council, “Dozens of settlers attacked the gathering at Iftar. The young men came out to prevent them, and there were about eight injuries on our side.”

Israeli police arrested three men, including Ballal, who sustained injuries during the altercation. The settlers reportedly stole around 10 sheep from the village before the confrontation ended.

“This is not the first time that settlers have attacked our gatherings, but in the recent period, these attacks have increased,” Nawajaa added.

Ballal’s wife, Lamia Ballal, described how the settlers gathered around their family home, prompting her husband to intervene. “The settlers attacked him and started beating him, and then they arrested him,” she said.

Israeli military officials stated that police and soldiers responded to the incident after Palestinians allegedly threw rocks at settler vehicles and later 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 army said in a statement. However, Palestinian activists claim that security forces often allow settlers to attack villages without intervention.

American-Canadian activist Anna Lippman, from the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence, confirmed that her group arrived 15 minutes after the violence began and was also attacked by settlers.

Ballal stated that one of the settlers involved in the assault was a known aggressor. “This is not the first time. He has attacked my home many times and also has grazed his cows in the garden of my house.”

His colleague and No Other Land co-director Basel Adra suggested that the attack was a form of retaliation for the film’s depiction of Israeli displacement policies in Masafer Yatta. “Because he carries his camera and documents what is going on, I think he is targeted, and he was avenged this way at night,” Adra said.

The incident comes amid growing international concern over settler violence in the West Bank. European nations and the Biden administration have imposed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers. However, under former U.S. President Donald Trump, such measures were removed.

As tensions continue to escalate in the West Bank, Palestinian communities fear further settler incursions and violence, while activists and journalists documenting these incidents face increasing threats.

This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members