Director No Other Land Oscar 2025 Injured By Illegal Settlements And Arrested By Israeli Soldiers

JAKARTA - The Israeli army held arrests against Palestinians involved in the production of a film titled No Other Land. The documentary won the 2025 Oscar.

An anti-resident Palestinian activist, Osama Makhamra, told Anadolu that Israeli forces detained director No Other Land, Hamdan Ballal Al-Huraini, when illegal settlers attacked the Susya community in the Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron, West Bank, on Monday evening 25 March.

On Sunday 2 March, the film No Other Land won the Oscar award for the best documentary category at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, United States (US).

The film, directed by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor, highlighted the forced expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in Masafer Yatta by the Israeli government.

In the award speech, filmmakers called for the termination of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Makhamra explained that al-Hini's arrest occurred when illegal settlers attacked Susya. After the incident, Israeli troops and police arrived at the location and detained three people, including al-Hini.

Israel's daily Haaretz reported that "tens of settlers attacked Palestinians in Susya on Monday evening March 25," causing al-Hini to be injured.

Witnesses and international activists told Haaretz that the settlers hit al-Hini in the head, damaged water tanks, stole security cameras, and destroyed car windows.

When taken to hospital in an ambulance on the Red Crescent, Israeli soldiers -- some of them were part of a settlers' emergency unit -- stopped vehicles, arrested al-Hini, and handed them over to other troops, the newspaper added.

Peace activists from America who were at the scene contacted the police, but security forces reportedly did not intervene, while settlers fled when soldiers arrived.

"Israeli troops carried the three detainees handcuffed and eyes closed, although one of them was injured," Makhamra said.

Until now, the fate of the detainees remains unknown, and Israeli authorities have not provided an official statement regarding the incident.

Earlier on Monday, Makhamra revealed that about 30 Israeli settlers stormed Susya, opened fire into the air, and attacked residents.

Jihad Nuwaja, head of the local council Susya, confirmed that four Palestinians suffered injuries and bruises from the attacks of the settlers.

Tensions in the West Bank continue to rise, where at least 937 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others have been injured as a result of attacks by Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers since aggression against Gaza began on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

In July, the International Court (ICJ) declared Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories an illegal act and called for the emptying of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.