Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was handcuffed, blindfolded and thrashed during his night-long detention at an Israeli army base on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham alleged following Ballal’s release from detention.

“After the assault, Hamdan was handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor, his lawyer Leah Tsemel said after speaking with him just now. He's still held in the Kiryat Arba police station,” Abraham, an Israeli journalist and filmmaker, said in a post on X.

Ballal, 36, was allegedly attacked by a group of Israeli settlers close to his home in Susiya village of Palestine on Monday and subsequently detained by Israeli forces.

The filmmaker’s wife, Lamia Ballal, recalled the attack on him, saying that she was huddling inside with their children and heard him screaming, “I’m dying,” AP has reported.

According to the AP report, she saw three men in uniform beating Ballal with the butts of their guns, while another person in civilian clothes seemed like he was filming the assault.

Dozens of Israeli settlers allegedly pelted stones and destroyed infrastructure like water tanks and car windows during the attack on Monday evening.

On Tuesday evening, Ballal was released from detention and was sent back to his home in Susiya village of Palestine, Abraham said on X. “After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,” he said.

Ballal and Abraham’s documentary No Other Land bagged an Oscar in the Best Documentary (feature) category at the 97th Academy Awards this year. Ballal co-directed No Other Land along with Israeli journalist Abraham, fellow Palestinian filmmaker-activist Basel Adra, and Israeli cinematographer, editor and director Rachel Szor.

No Other Land, which marks Ballal’s first directorial venture, follows the story of a character played by Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist, who has been resisting the displacement of his community by Israel's military forces in Masafer Yatta, a collection of 19 villages. He records the gradual destruction of his homeland, where Israeli soldiers tore down homes and evicted inhabitants. During his journey, he befriends Yuval, a Jewish Israeli journalist, who helps him.

No Other Land had its world premiere at 2023 Berlinale, where it won the Audience Award and Berlinale Documentary Award. However, Abraham sparked controversy for criticising a “situation of apartheid” in Israel and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in his acceptance speech.

According to the US-based magazine Deadline, Abraham received death threats and was accused of antisemitism. The filmmaker-journalist, who belongs to a family that was killed during the Holocaust, refuted the allegations.

Following its premiere, No Other Land has won awards at 68 film festivals, including the BAFTA Award, European Film Award, IDA Awards and Gotham Independent Film Awards. It won the Best Documentary trophy at the Oscars.