Stand Up for Hamdan Ballal & Abdallah Motan!

The ICFR calls for the protection of Palestinian filmmakers Hamdan Ballal (NO OTHER LAND) and Abdallah Motan, persecuted by Israel

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) expresses its deep concern for, and condemnation of the hostile treatment of Palestinian filmmakers Hamdan Ballal (No Other Land), attacked by Israeli settlers and arrested by the Israeli army on March 24, later released; and Abdallah Motan, arrested on January 13 and currently detained in military detention without charges or trial. The ICFR urgently calls on the international community to guarantee the protection of filmmakers (as well as any other filmmaker, journalist or civilian trying to document and shine light on the brutalities against Palestinians) and hold the perpetrators to account. 

Hamdan Ballal is a Palestinian filmmaker, photographer and human rights activist from Susiya, in the Masafer Yatta region in the West Bank, the region depicted in the film he co-directed between 2019 and 2023 with fellow Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, No Other Land.

The documentary, about the resilience of the Palestinian people of Masafer Yatta in the face of constant violence from Israeli settlers seeking to displace them, has been a major critical success and a topic of much debate around the world. Among many other accolades, the filmmaking team won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 2025 Oscars.

On Monday March 24, Hamdan Ballal was surrounded and attacked by fifteen Israeli settlers in his home town of Susiya in Masafer Yatta. With police and army forces idly standing by, the attackers assaulted both Ballal and his property, leaving him bleeding after severe blows to his head and stomach. As his co-director Yuval Abraham has reported via social media, Ballal was lifted from the ambulance by the Israeli army and forcefully taken into custody in an undisclosed location, where he was blindfolded, beaten and mistreated even further.

Over the course of March 25, the intervention of Ballal's lawyer has fortunately resulted in his release; Ballal is currently undergoing serious medical care for the physical traumas that the Israeli settlers and army have inflicted on him. It is as of yet unclear whether he will continue to be prosecuted by the Israeli state. This is not the first attack on the filmmaking team behind No Other Land: just last February, Palestinian co-director Basel Adra also found himself surrounded and assaulted by masked Israelis, and the violence against the filmmakers and the Masafer Yatta region has only increased since their success at the Academy Awards.

As Julie Trébault, Executive Director of the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), has stated, "This blatant effort to silence Palestinian voices, especially those who speak truth through art, cannot go unchecked. We are relieved to see Hamdan Ballal released from custody, but urgently call on the Israeli authorities to guarantee his protection and hold the perpetrators to account."

This violence all occurs within the bigger framework of Israel's continued war on Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinians, which this week alone has resulted in the killing of even more (video)journalists, including 23-year-old Hossam Shabat, bringing the total number of killed journalists in Gaza to 225. It also led to the forceful arrest and detaining of Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Motan this past winter.

Due in part to the absence of international attention for Abdallah Motan's situation, he has been incarcerated first in the notorious Gush Etzion incarceration facility near Hebron, where he was refused access to legal representation for months. He is now been moved to the Ofer Prison near Ramallah, where his lawyer can visit him but where Motan still has not been allowed a visit from his loved ones. Motan's current legal representation has recently confirmed that, despite it all, Motan is in relatively good health and spirits, even though his chances for release are highly uncertain at present; after his current six-month detention period, he and his lawyer will appeal to try and avoid an extension of his incarceration.

The ICFR joins the global film community, including our partners the European Film Academy, Artist at Risk Connection and the International Documentary Association, in our unwavering support for Hamdan Ballal as well as for Abdallah Motan. We call upon the Israeli authorities to drop all possible charges against Hamdan Ballal, and release Abdallah Motan and any other unjustly detained Palestinian immediately and unconditionally.

Additionally, we encourage you to take direct action by signing this petition started in Hamdan Ballal's support.

This is a developing story; updates will be distributed via our website and social media.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk