By Micah Jonah
February 17, 2026
Nearly a year after Palestinian-Israeli documentary, No Other Land won an Academy Award, co-director Hamdan Ballal has revealed that attacks on his family and neighbouring Palestinian villages in the West Bank have escalated, despite an Israeli court ruling intended to protect them.
Ballal told reporters that on Sunday, Israeli settlers stormed his hometown of Susya, ignoring a court order that barred non-residents from the area. When the family called Israeli army officers to enforce the ruling, the officers instead sided with the settlers.
One of Ballal’s brothers was placed in a chokehold, later hospitalized with breathing difficulties, while four other relatives, including two brothers, a nephew, and a cousin were detained for hours before being released.
“This ruling was supposed to protect us, but the opposite happened,” Ballal said. “Israeli authorities did nothing to enforce the decision, joined the settlers in the attack.”
The Palestinian filmmaker said the retaliation has increasingly targeted his family to avoid media attention, restricting their ability to graze livestock, plough farmland, move freely. Often times, they have been questioned about Ballal’s work and pressured to vacate their homes.
Ballal’s documentary, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in March 2025, follows Palestinian journalist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham as they document the struggle to protect Palestinian homes in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. Israeli filmmaker, Rachel Szor also shares directing credits.
Israeli settlers in the area routinely graze livestock on Palestinian land to assert control, pave the way for illegal outposts, cutting Palestinians off from their farms. The Israeli army argues that demolishing villages is necessary to convert the area into a military training zone. The army did not respond to requests for comment on the recent attack.
The escalation comes as Israel’s far-right coalition government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pushes to resume land registration in the West Bank for the first time since 1967. Rights groups warn the move will accelerate displacement and dispossession of Palestinian residents.
Ballal’s family is not alone in facing retaliation; in September 2025, Basel Adra’s home in at-Tawani was raided after clashes with settlers. In July 2025, activist and consultant for No Other Land, Awdah Hathaleen, was shot dead in Umm al-Khair.
Ballal described the attacks as “terrorist acts,” saying Palestinians in Masafer Yatta live in constant fear. “It’s a simple right for Palestinians to feel safe in their homes,” he said. “We are scared; we are in danger, and it’s been like this for a long time. International law doesn’t work for Palestinians, but we are human, and we have a right to live.”
