Oscar-winning Palestinian director of ‘No Other Land’ released from Israeli detention after being assaulted

The Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film "No Other Land" Hamdan Ballal was beaten up by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, taken away by Israeli soldiers and detained overnight, according to his family, friends, colleagues, eyewitnesses and lawyer.

On Tuesday afternoon, following his release from detention, Ballal's lawyer Leah Tzemel said that he had been "arbitrarily" held in police detention in Kiryat Arba'a, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, and that he had been beaten in custody by Israeli soldiers. Following his release, he was moved to a hospital in Hebron, where he was treated for his injuries, according to his brother, Nimer.

Despite suffering from dehydration and bruising, Ballal left the hospital, his co-director Basel Adra told CNN. He has now returned home to his family in Susya in the occupied West Bank, his brother said.

CNN has reached out to Israeli authorities for comment on the allegations.

Speaking through tears from inside her home in the village of Susya on Tuesday afternoon, Ballal's wife Lamya told CNN that her husband was attacked in front of their house by three settlers shortly after Iftar, the sundown breaking of the fast during Ramadan.

Ballal's wife Lamya stands outside their home in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Kara Fox/CNN

Ballal had seen a group of settlers who were attacking the village, she said, but when he tried to document them, they came after him.

The men beat Ballal with brass knuckles and with the butt of a rifle to his head, she said, while a mob of other settlers threw stones at the door and "tried to penetrate into the house from the windows," where she and her terrified three children were sheltering.

Adra told CNN that he had gone to Ballal's home on Monday evening after Ballal called him in distress. He arrived to see Ballal and at least one other person being taken away.

Adra added that a group of masked Israeli settlers, Israeli police and the military were also outside the home, with Israeli soldiers firing at anyone who tried to get close. CNN saw a bullet casing on the ground on Tuesday, just steps from Ballal's front door.

A casing of a bullet is seen just steps from Ballal's home in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

Kara Fox/CNN

The Israeli military said it had arrived at the scene of a "violent confrontation" between Palestinians and Israelis who were throwing rocks at each other. It said the fight had broken out after several "terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles."

From : Egypt Independent