Just weeks after accepting an Oscar for No Other Land, a documentary highlighting his West Bank village’s struggle under Israeli occupation, Hamdan Ballal found himself at the center of a violent assault. On Tuesday, with his face bruised and his clothes still stained with blood, Ballal recounted to The Associated Press how an Israeli settler and soldiers attacked him the night before. He described how the settler kicked his head “like a football” during a raid on his village.
Following the attack, soldiers detained Ballal along with two other Palestinians. He said he was blindfolded for over 20 hours, forced to sit on the floor under a freezing air conditioner, and was repeatedly beaten with kicks, punches, or a stick whenever soldiers switched shifts. Although Ballal does not understand Hebrew, he recalled hearing his name alongside the word “Oscar”, making him realize the attack was targeted. “When they say ‘Oscar,’ you understand. When they say your name, you understand,” he said from a West Bank hospital after his release.
Disputed Claims and Conflicting Accounts
The Israeli military has yet to respond to claims that soldiers beat Ballal. Meanwhile, the settler Ballal identified as his attacker, Shem Tov Luski—who had previously threatened him—denied any involvement, asserting that he was responding to Palestinian stone-throwing. Luski claimed that Ballal and others in the village hurled stones at his car and insisted he was unaware of Ballal’s Oscar win.
On Monday, the Israeli military reported detaining three Palestinians suspected of throwing stones and one Israeli civilian, who was soon released. Ballal, however, denied the accusations of stone-throwing.
A Night of Violence
The attack occurred in Susiya, a village in the Masafer Yatta region, which was featured in No Other Land. The documentary captures Palestinian residents’ resistance against settler violence and military-led home demolitions.
According to witnesses, as villagers ended their Ramadan fast at sunset, about two dozen Jewish settlers, accompanied by police, stormed the area, pelting houses with stones and damaging property. Shortly after, around 30 soldiers arrived. Jewish Israeli activists supporting the villagers also documented their own encounters with settlers attacking their car with sticks and stones.
Ballal said he had filmed some of the destruction before retreating to his home, locking the door to protect his wife and three young children. “I told myself, if they attack me—if they kill me—I will protect my family,” he said.
Moments later, Luski and two soldiers allegedly approached. Ballal recounted that Luski struck him on the head, knocking him to the ground, and continued to kick and punch him. Simultaneously, one soldier beat his legs with a rifle butt while another pointed a weapon at him.
Inside the house, Ballal’s wife, Lamia, huddled with their children and heard him screaming, “I’m dying!”
Luski, however, gave a different version of events. He told The Associated Press that he and other settlers had entered the village to aid a fellow settler under attack. He accused Ballal of breaking his car window and throwing a stone at his chest. He also denied attacking Ballal or damaging any property, claiming to have footage of the incident—but when asked to provide it, he responded with expletives.
Aftermath and Detention
By Tuesday, a small bloodstain remained outside Ballal’s home, while his family’s car had shattered windows. Neighbors pointed to a nearby water tank with a gaping hole, allegedly caused by settlers.
According to attorney Lea Tsemel, who represents Ballal and the two other detained Palestinians, they were taken to an army base, where they received minimal medical attention for their injuries. Lawyers were denied access to them for several hours.
Ballal described his ordeal: “I had no idea where I was, I couldn’t see anything, and I was freezing from being blindfolded under the air conditioner for hours.”
After being transferred to an Israeli police station in the Kiryat Arba settlement, the three were released on Tuesday afternoon. “My whole body is in pain,” Ballal said as he limped toward a hospital in the nearby Palestinian city of Hebron.
Doctors confirmed he suffered multiple bruises, scratches, abrasions under his eye, and a cut on his chin but found no internal injuries. The two other detained Palestinians had minor injuries as well.
A History of Confrontations
Tensions between Ballal and Luski are well-documented. In a widely circulated video from August, Luski and masked settlers are seen confronting Ballal, hurling insults, and trying to provoke him.
“This is my land, God gave it to me,” Luski declared in the footage. “Next time it won’t be nice.” He then taunted Ballal with the prospect of being sent to Sde Teiman, an infamous military prison holding Palestinian detainees from Gaza.
Mocking the abuse reported at the facility, Luski uttered a chilling phrase in Hebrew: “Rape for a higher cause.” He then blew Ballal a kiss.
The Bigger Picture
No Other Land, a joint Israeli-Palestinian production, sheds light on the struggles of Masafer Yatta, an area designated by the Israeli military as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s. Since then, authorities have attempted to expel its predominantly Arab Bedouin residents. Although around 1,000 villagers remain, their homes, tents, water tanks, and olive orchards are routinely demolished by soldiers.
Settler outposts have sprung up in the region, often leading to further property destruction. Palestinians and human rights groups claim Israeli forces frequently ignore settler violence—or actively support it.
The film has sparked controversy in Israel and beyond. In Miami Beach, officials even proposed terminating the lease of a movie theater that screened it.
Escalating Tensions
Basel Adra, a co-director of No Other Land and a prominent Palestinian activist, noted a sharp increase in settler and military violence since the film’s Oscar win.
“We’re living in dark days here—in Gaza, and throughout the West Bank,” he said. “Nobody is stopping this.”
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek all three territories as part of a future state. However, Israel has since established over 100 settlements in the West Bank, now home to more than 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship—settlements widely regarded as illegal under international law.
Meanwhile, roughly 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank remain under Israeli military rule, with limited governance provided by the Palestinian Authority.
The ongoing war in Gaza has fueled an escalation of violence in the West Bank, with widespread Israeli military operations leading to hundreds of Palestinian deaths and mass displacement. Simultaneously, settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis have surged, deepening an already volatile situation.