The Israeli authorities have released Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal, known for the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, who had been detained the previous night. Ballal was arrested following an attack he and other witnesses claimed was carried out by masked Israeli settlers outside his home in a village in the West Bank.
In a statement, the IDF said they arrested “Palestinian terrorists who were throwing stones at Israeli citizens,” a claim both Ballal and the other detainees deny.
After his release, Ballal said he was guarding his home during an attack by settlers, fearing they would try to enter. He was suddenly struck on the head by a man while two soldiers pointed their weapons at him.
No Other Land follows a young Palestinian who fights against the forced displacement of residents from a village in the West Bank.
The director stated that the soldiers blindfolded him and mocked him, saying, “This is the Oscar-winning director.” The Israeli military did not respond to a request from The New York Times for comment on the director’s allegations.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a more lenient stance toward settlers, reversing sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on individuals accused of violence against Palestinians.
Yesterday, the confirmation hearing for Mike Huckabee, Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, was ongoing. Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.
In January alone, over 40,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes in the West Bank, the highest number of displaced people since 1967.
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