SUSYA, West Bank (TNND) — Israeli authorities released Oscar-winning Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal who was detained by the army after being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. He said they beat him in front of his home while they filmed the assault, according to the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, he was released from an Israeli police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, the Associated Press confirmed. He and two other Palestinians who had been attacked and detained were taken to a nearby hospital.

Ballal said he was held at an army base, blindfolded for 24 hours and forced to sleep under a freezing air conditioner.

“All my body is pain,” he told The Associated Press. “I heard the voices of the soldiers, they were laughing about me I heard ‘Oscar’ but I didn’t speak Hebrew.”

Leah Zemel, a lawyer representing the Palestinians, reportedly told The New York Times she had been informed they were being held in a military facility for medical treatment ahead of questioning.

The newspaper quoted the Israeli military as saying in a statement that it detained three Palestinians for questioning since they were suspected of hurling rocks. An Israeli civilian was also taken into custody for questioning, according to The New York Times.

The military reportedly said several terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles near Susya, Ballal’s home village, and prompting a violent confrontation. “Mutual rock hurling” between Israelis and Palestinians ensued, the newspaper reported, noting the military’s statement that terrorists threw rocks at Israeli forces when they responded. One Israeli was injured and transported to receive medical treatment, according to The New York Times.

Joseph Kaplan Weinger, who the newspaper said is part of a volunteer initiative that provides “protection” in areas “vulnerable to settler violence,” reportedly claimed Ballal was attacked by at least 20 people, most of whom were teenagers with knives, sticks and rocks.

The group assaulted West Bank residents while they were breaking the fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan, mockingly shouting “holiday blessings” as they did so, The New York Times quoted Weinger as saying.

Basel Adra, another director of “No Other Land,” posted on social media platform X photos of Ballal receiving medical treatment. Adra noted he has been released from the Israeli authorities and is in a hospital in Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank.

“He was beaten by soldiers and settlers all over his body,” Adra wrote. “The soldiers left him blindfolded and handcuffed throughout of military base last night.”

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Editor’s note: The Associate Press contributed to this article.