Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director Brutally Beaten by Israeli Soldiers

Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, recounted a harrowing ordeal Tuesday, claiming he was viciously beaten by an Israeli settler and soldiers during a settler raid on his village of Susiya in the occupied West Bank.

Fresh from accepting an Academy Award in Los Angeles on March 2 for his film chronicling Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, Ballal emerged bruised and bloodied, alleging the attack on Monday night was personal.

Speaking to the Associated Press from a Hebron hospital after his release, the 34-year-old farmer-turned-filmmaker said settler Shem Tov Luski kicked his head “like a football” as two dozen settlers stormed Susiya at sunset, disrupting Ramadan fast-breaking.

Soldiers then detained him and two others, blindfolding them for over 20 hours in a frigid, air-conditioned room where, Ballal claims, guards beat him with fists, kicks, and a stick, invoking his name and “Oscar.” “They targeted me,” he said, limping from injuries that included bruises, scratches, and a cut chin—confirmed minor by doctors.

The Israeli military, which detained three Palestinians and one settler (later released) for alleged rock-throwing, offered no immediate response to the beating claims. Luski, identified by Ballal and known for past threats, denied the assault, insisting to AP that Ballal and masked villagers pelted his car with stones.

“He broke my window,” Luski claimed, refusing to share footage he said he had. Witnesses, including Ballal’s wife Lamia—who heard him scream “I’m dying!”—and Jewish activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, reported settlers smashing cars and water tanks, with soldiers abetting the chaos.

The raid on Susiya, part of Masafer Yatta featured in No Other Land, left bloodstains and wreckage outside Ballal’s home. His lawyer, Lea Tsemel, said the detained trio got scant medical care at an army base before their Tuesday release from Kiryat Arba police station. As settler attacks—over 220 in 2025 per UN data—surge alongside the Gaza war, Ballal’s ordeal amplifies the film’s stark narrative, thrusting his Oscar glow into a grim spotlight.