A Palestinian Oscar winner, Hamdan Ballal, has been detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank following a violent confrontation between settlers and Palestinians. Ballal was one of four co-directors of the documentary “No Other Land”, which won the best documentary award at the 97th Academy Awards.
According to Jewish American activists who witnessed the incident, around a dozen masked settlers attacked the village of Susya on Monday, beating and hitting them with sticks, smashing their car windows. The activists claimed they were under attack when Israeli soldiers intervened, allowing the confrontation to de-escalate.
However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disputed this account, saying only three Palestinians and an Israeli had been detained for allegedly hurling rocks at security forces. Ballal’s house was reportedly surrounded by settlers during the incident.
The detaining of Ballal has raised concerns about the treatment of Palestinian activists in the West Bank. Settler violence against Palestinian civilians has surged since the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, and international law considers Israeli settlements in the territory to be illegal.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0eg04d152zo