TRANSCRIPT:
"He was attacked by settlers, soldiers together. And they abducted him. And nobody saw him after that. I saw him from a far distance in the darkness, blindfolded and handcuffed with another Palestinian man. They were taking him inside the military jeep."
For 24 hours, Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal was blindfolded and detained without charge by Israeli police.
On Monday [[24/03]], at least 15 Israeli settlers — some masked, some carrying guns and some in military uniforms — attacked the occupied West Bank village of Susiya as residents broke their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Hamdan Ballal's wife Lamia says she heard the moment her husband was beaten and taken"He was beaten by three people, one of them was wearing white and was filming him. They almost surrounded all of the house and tried to break in on us. One of them was standing by the window, and they were banging on the door trying to get in."
Hamdan Ballal is a co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” which looks at the struggles of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
After being attacked by Israeli settlers, Mr Ballal's lawyer says he and two other Palestinians were arrested, blindfolded, and held without charge.
Neither the Israeli Army nor Israeli police have provided a statement on the arrests.
"No Other Land" co-director Basel Adra says the Israeli settlers and army are angry about the success of their film.
"There is revenge. They want to punish us. So to try to scare us from speaking up and speaking louder. And the Oscars brought a lot of attention. And everybody almost in the world, millions of people started to know about Masafer Yatta and the story of Masafer Yatta. And these settlers —and I think the state even of Israel, the military— it does not want us to transfer the footage and what's happening on the ground outside.”
In Gaza, the health ministry says Israel has killed at least 23 Palestinians in pre-dawn raids as it commences its eighth day of continuous bombardment.
Amid fresh evacuation orders, escalating attacks and an Israeli blockade on humanitarian supplies, the United Nations says workers are also reporting that access to water is becoming increasingly limited.
Fleeing Jabalia in Gaza's north, Shorouk Shamlakh says she doesn't know where to go.
“I lost my husband in this war. In this war of extermination I lost my husband, lost my home, lost my money, lost everything. Nothing remains with me. I have three children, and every day I am displaced in a place with no home, or tent. I haven't even received a tent to move and transfer somewhere else. Where will I go now?”
Save the Children says more than 270 children have been killed in the week since Israel resumed attacking Gaza, marking some of the deadliest days for children since October 2023.
The U-N humanitarian office says Israel has issued displacement orders covering about 15 per cent of Gaza, forcibly displacing 120,000 Palestinians in just over a week [[since March 18]].
Spokesman for the U-N Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric says Israeli forces must stop attacking civilians who are moving throughout the territory.
"These areas cover about fifteen percent of the Gaza strip, that's roughly the size of Manhattan. This percentage does not include the no go zones along Gaza's perimeter and the Netzarim corridor. Once again, OCHA stresses that civilians must be protected whether they move or whether they choose to stay civilians who leave for safer areas must be allowed to return as soon as circumstances allow and OCHA also reiterates that civilians must be able to receive the humanitarian assistance they need. Wherever they are."
In Jerusalem, Israel's parliament approved the long delayed 2025 state budget in a turbulent session showing how lawmakers and the country remain divided over both the fate of hostages and the wider political landscape.
Opposition lawmakers held up signs in the main chamber with "59", the number of hostages still in Gaza; about 24 of the hostages are believed to be still alive.
Following the budget's approval opposition lawmakers shouted "shame", and opposition leader Yair Lapid called the legislation a robbery.
"What is being presented here today is not a budget, it is theft. This is the greatest corruption since the establishment of the State (of Israel). You are cutting the income and future of the Israeli middle class and the consuming public who work and pay taxes, serve in the army, whose children serve in the army. You are using them shamelessly."
Ahead of the vote, security forces dragged away protesters who lay across the road leading to parliament.
For several days in a row, thousands of Israelis have marched toward and surrounded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Jerusalem.
Waving Israeli flags and carrying signs calling for new elections, the protesters are accusing the Israeli government of working against its people.
Protester Tzippi Gross says the people just want to be heard.
"I want to tell them (government) that we care, that we think different to what they think. And they must see us. I think we need to go to elections again. After all we went through, we must let the people judge."
