The Israeli police interrogated a Palestinian director of an Oscar-winning documentary on Tuesday, following reports from witnesses who claimed that Israeli settlers had assaulted him near his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to his lawyer, Leah Tsemel, along with authorities, the police detained Hamdan Ballal, aged 37, and two other Palestinians on suspicion of throwing stones at Israeli vehicles and injuring a settler, accusations they deny.
One settler, a minor, was also held but later released for medical treatment and scheduled for further questioning. The details surrounding the incident are unclear, but Palestinian witnesses and American activists present at the scene stated that prior to his arrest, Mr. Ballal was attacked by a group of assailants, many of whom were masked, in his home village of Susya.
The incident has drawn attention to the increasing violence from settlers in the West Bank. Within the past year, Jewish extremists have targeted Palestinians, set vehicles ablaze, and vandalized homes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented over 1,000 incidents of settler violence in 2024.
Under President Trump’s administration, there has been a more lenient stance on settler violence, with sanctions against individuals accused of violence against Palestinians being lifted. A confirmation hearing for Mike Huckabee, Mr. Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel and a vocal advocate for settlement construction, is scheduled for that day.
Different accounts of the event were provided by both sides. The Israeli military stated that “several terrorists” threw stones at Israeli vehicles, igniting a confrontation. In contrast, Nasser Nawaja of B’Tselem and other Palestinians claimed the trouble began when villagers tried to drive away Israeli shepherds grazing livestock on land they contested. The masked Israelis then joined in, attacking two Palestinian homes.
Two American activists, Josh Kimelman and Joseph Kaplan Weinger, who provide protection in areas prone to settler violence, reported responding to emergency calls from Palestinians. The attackers also surrounded their car, damaging it with stones. Mr. Ballal’s lawyer stated that he was assaulted by an Israeli, who knocked him over and continued to beat him.
Basel Adra, a co-director of the documentary, was also present at the scene. He shared footage of a blindfolded man, identified as Mr. Ballal, being escorted to vehicles by Israeli forces, alleging that the soldiers and officers present did little to stop the masked Israeli assailants.
Mr. Ballal is part of the Palestinian-Israeli team, including Mr. Adra, Rachel Szor, and Yuval Abraham, that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary this month with the film “No Other Land.” The film focuses on the demolition of West Bank residents’ homes by Israeli forces for a live-fire military training ground.
Following repeated attacks, Palestinians in the southern West Bank, including from Mr. Hamdan’s village, have taken their case to the Israeli Supreme Court, arguing that Israeli security authorities are not adequately protecting them. The court expressed concern over Israel’s failure to protect Palestinians and ruled that the government, including the Israeli military, must safeguard Palestinians against future attacks.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/world/middleeast/israel-police-hamdan-ballal-palestinian.html
