Oscar-winning Palestinian director injured in attack by Israeli settlers released after arrest

March 26, 2025 , 05:12 PM

By Yosri Al-Jamal, Mussa Qawasma and Ali Sawafta

(March 25, 2025, REUTERS) – The Oscar-winning director of a documentary on the Israel-Palestinian conflict was released from detention on Tuesday, a day after being injured and arrested during a raid by Israeli settlers on his village in the occupied West Bank.

Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the award-winning “No Other Land”, said he had been assaulted by settlers after filming them attacking a neighbour’s house and then returning to make sure his own house was not attacked.

“I was just waiting outside, if any settlers or any army were attacking my home,” he told Reuters after being released from police custody.

He said he had been pushed to the ground, while soldiers yelled at him to stand up and pointed their guns at him. “It’s crazy, you can imagine your family, your kids inside the home and you need to protect them,” he said.

Shortly before the incident, in which he ended up being arrested by Israeli security forces, a group of settlers attacked a gathering for Iftar, the end of the daily Ramadan fast, at Susiya village near Hebron.

“Dozens of settlers attacked the gathering at Iftar,” Jihad Nawajaa, head of the Susiya local council, told Reuters by phone. “The young men came out to prevent them, and there were about eight injuries on our side.”

Israeli police arrested three men, including Ballal, who was injured during the standoff.

“This is not the first time that the settlers attacked our gathering, but in the recent period the attacks have increased,” Nawajaa said, adding that the settlers had stolen around 10 sheep from the village during the attack.

Monday’s incident was the latest in which Israeli settlers have been accused of raiding Palestinian or Bedouin villages and encampments in the West Bank, sometimes to steal livestock. Palestinians and activists who monitor such attacks say the police and army typically stand by without intervening.

Lamia Ballal, the filmmaker’s wife, said settlers had gathered around the family house and her husband had gone outside to prevent them from breaking in.

“The settlers attacked him and started beating him, and then they arrested him,” she told Reuters.

Anna Lippman, an American-Canadian from a group called the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, said her group had been attacked by settlers after arriving in the village around 15 minutes after the violence began.

‘TARGETED’
The Israeli military said police and soldiers intervened after Palestinians threw rocks at the vehicles of Israeli citizens and later at Israeli security forces.

“In response, the forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation,” it said in a statement.

It denied reports that at least one of the Palestinians was arrested in an ambulance.

Asked for an update on Ballal’s condition and status on Tuesday, the Israeli police sent the statement first issued by the army the previous night.

“No Other Land,” a film about Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community, co-directed by Palestinian and Israeli directors, won the Oscar for best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.

Ballal said one of the settlers who took part in the assault was well known to him.

“This is not the first time,” he said. “He has attacked my home many times and also has grazed his cows in the garden of my house.”

Basel Adra, one of the film’s other co-directors, said he believed the settlers had taken the army to the family house as revenge for the film’s depiction of the Masafer Yatta area near where Monday’s incident occurred.

“Because he carries his camera and documents what is going on, I think he is targeted and he was avenged this way at night,” he said.

European countries and the previous U.S. administration of President Joe Biden have imposed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, but under President Donald Trump, the White House has removed them.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta from Ramallah; writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Aidan Lewis and Bill Berkrot)

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Commitment

TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.

We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.

Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?

We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:

To deliver news and updates on current events, sports, esports and entertainment;
To share livestreams of news and sports events;
To understand our viewers’ needs and preferences;
To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
To perform other processes or disclosures that are required to comply with pertinent laws, rules, or regulations.

Where do we get your personal information?

There are several ways we collect your personal information.

Information that you personally provided.

Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
- Register to our programs or services;
- Inquired, filed a complaint or requested for our services;
- Took part in our research and surveys; and/or
- Became our Partner, Vendor, Contractor or Supplier.

Information we collect during your engagement with us

We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
- Viewing our websites;
- Activities that are being tracked by our website cookies;
- Calling our hotline;
- Using our apps, websites, and self-service channels and portals; and/or
- Joining our promos, prize raffles, or rewards and loyalty programs.

Information we collect from other sources

Other means of collection of information may be through:
- Our market research initiatives;
- When you visit and use our websites and mobile application; and
- Subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party business partners to whom you have given consent to share your information to us.

When do we disclose personal information?

There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.

We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.

In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.

How we protect your personal information

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.

We also put in effect the following safeguards:

We keep and protect your information using a secured server behind a firewall, encryption and security controls;
We keep your information only for as long as it is necessary for us to (a) provide the products and services that you avail from us, (b) for our legitimate business purposes, (c) to comply with pertinent laws, and (d) for special cases that will require the exercise or defense of legal claims;
We limit the access to your information only to qualified and authorized personnel who are trained to handle your information with strict confidentiality;
We undergo regular audits and rigorous testing of our infrastructure’s security protocols to ensure your data is always protected;
We promptly notify you and the National Privacy Commission when sensitive personal information that may, under the circumstances, be used to enable identity fraud are reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person; and
We let you update your information securely to keep our records accurate.

TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.

What are your choices?

We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.

If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.

Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph

What happens when there are changes in our Policy?

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.

You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.