A group of masked men attacked residents of the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, for the second time in a week on Friday, according to CCTV footage published by Yuval Abraham on the same day.
Abraham, alongside Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal, won an Oscar for their film No Other Land, which is based in Masafer Yatta. He published the videos showing a group of around 15 masked men attacking residents of the village with clubs and by hand.
Later, he published videos showing several seriously injured people who were bleeding from their heads and said they were victims of the attack.
What happened in Masafer Yatta?
In one video, a group of around 15 masked men can be seen charging up a hill toward the village.
כל הסיפור הזה שימש תירוץ לפוגרום. בסרטון: קבוצה מוטרפת של רעולי פנים, חמושים גם בנשק צה"לי, רצה לכפר, והם צועקים: צלמו את הערבים, צלמו אותם זורקים אבנים. למה? כי זו, כאמור, להבנתי השיטה: תוקפים, מתעדים התגוננות, ואז הצבא בא ועוצר את הקורבנות. >> pic.twitter.com/Sgn04GV1Av
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 28, 2025
In another video, the men can be seen beating a young man. Initially, one man beats him with a club, then several other men arrive and knock him to the floor before stomping on him and beating him with clubs.
היום מתנחלים ביצעו פוגרום במסאפר יטא, ואז הציגו נרטיב מופרך שאומץ על-ידי (רוב) העיתונאים בארץ. צפו בסרטון: נערי גבעות רעולי פנים נותנים מכות רצח עם אלות לנער בן 17, קוסאי, כשאמא שלו, עלא, צועקת באימה ברקע. תפעילו סאונד. והנה הסיפור המלא >> pic.twitter.com/O78hbWlL1F
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 28, 2025
The initial attacker begins to leave before returning to hit the resident several more times on the ground.
Abraham posted a final video showing several people lying on the floor, bleeding from their heads, which he says is a result of the attack. He added that they were suffering from brain hemorrhages and skull fractures.
Masafer Yatta has been a regular target for attacks for several years; the most recent attack occurred earlier this week when Hamdan Ballal, Abraham's co-director and resident of Masafer Yatta, was attacked, hospitalized, and arrested. Ballal was released without charge the following day.
No Other Land, which has brought increased attention to the events in this region of the West Bank, chronicles violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and the expulsions of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.
Masafer Yatta is a region of the West Bank southeast of Yatta in which about 20 Palestinian unrecognized villages are located. The villages remain unrecognized due to a dispute between the villagers and the IDF.
The area was designated an IDF training zone in 1981 via cabinet decision. Residents appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, stating that they had been present in the area prior to the decision to declare it a training zone.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no evidence of permanent habitation in the area prior to 1980. The Supreme Court did note the existence of temporary buildings and structures but found that none met the criteria for permanent residency.
Hannah Brown contributed to this report.