Update (3/25/2025, 9:20 AM): Hamdan Ballal is alive and has been freed, according to No Other Land director Yuval Abraham.
Hamdan Ballal is free and is about to go home to his family
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 25, 2025
Hamdan Ballal, one of the Academy Award winning directors of the documentary No Other Land, was reportedly attacked and abducted today by Israeli settlers. The report came from his fellow No Other Land director Yuval Abraham, who posted the news on X/Twitter. Ballal is Palestinian and a resident of the Masafer Yatta Region, the community that is the focus of No Other Land as it chronicles the ongoing violence and forcible home evictions that the neighbourhood endures at the hands of the Israeli army. The Guardian subsequently reported that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) arrested Ballal after masked assailants abducted him.
A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025
Abraham likened the attack to a “lynching” and posted a chilling video of the assailants’ approach. Another video showed the mob assaulting additional parties.
The group of armed KKK-like masked settlers that lynched No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal (still missing), caught here on camera. pic.twitter.com/kFGFxSEanY
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025
According to The Guardian, 15 armed settlers stormed the area, with five Jewish American eyewitnesses verifying the attack. Reports indicated that Ballal received an injury to the head, with No Other Land director and fellow Masafer Yatta director Basel Adra posting pictures of blood allegedly from the wound. There was also report that Ballal’s home and car were severely vandalised. Another man was reportedly taken with Ballal.
I’m standing with Karam, Hamdan’s 7 year old son, near the blood of Hamdan’s in his house, after settlers lynched him. Hamdan, co-director of our film No Other Land, is still missing after soldiers abducted him, injured and bleeding. This is how they erase Masafer Yatta. pic.twitter.com/72pT3UF3kj
— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) March 24, 2025
Adra speculated to The Guardian that the attack on Ballal was reprisal for the international attention that their film brought to the plight of Palestinians. “Palestinians in the village have been under physical attack by settlers almost daily. The settlers’ violence is increasing here. Maybe it’s a revenge for the movie and the Oscar,” Adra told The Guardian. “There were dozens of settlers together with the Israeli soldiers and they were threatening us with weapons…The police were there from the beginning and did not intervene. While the soldiers were pointing their weapons at us, the settlers started attacking the houses of the Palestinians. Hamdan tried to protect his family and the settlers attacked him. Soldiers started shooting in the air to prevent anyone to help Hamdan. He was shouting for help.”
Adra has been chronicling the violence in his community for years, and used the publicity from the Oscar race to amplify his message as violence continued to threaten his family and neighbours.
The International Documentary Association released a statement, saying, “We demand Ballal’s immediate release and that his family and community be informed about his condition, location, and the justification for his detention.”
No Other Land is directed by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor. It has been widely praised for its cross-border collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature earlier this month, yet couldn’t secure North American distribution as buyers are becoming increasingly risk averse and weary of overtly political films. It is currently screening in self-release and is the highest grosser of the documentary nominees with screenings continually selling out. A Miami independent cinema recently had its funding threatened by the local mayor over the film’s politics. The threat was subsequently retracted.
When the No Other Land team accepted the Oscar, Adra called upon the international audience to recognize the violence that Palestinians face daily. “No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist, as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” he said.
Update (3/27/2025): Numerous groups shared statements of support prior to and following Ballal’s release, including the Documentary Organization of Canada, and Cinema Eye Honors, which released the statements below:
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