Israeli Soldiers Raid Home of Oscar-Winning Palestinian Filmmaker

DID Press: Israeli soldiers raided the home of Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist and Oscar-winning filmmaker, in the occupied West Bank.

Settlers stormed the village of Tuwani on Saturday night, injuring two of my brothers and a cousin, Adra told Associated Press.

According to him, while accompanying his family to the hospital, nine Israeli soldiers entered his home, searched for him, and examined his wife’s phone. One of his uncles was also briefly detained.

The Israeli military said it had received reports that “a number of terrorists threw stones at Israeli civilians in the village,” prompting troops to deploy to the area.

Adra noted that he was unable to return home to look after his family because soldiers had blocked access to the village, describing the situation as “horrific.”

“Even if you just film settlers, the army comes, chases you, and searches your house. The whole system is built to attack us, to scare us, to terrorize us,” he told reporters.

Adra has spent much of his career documenting settler violence in Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank. His film “No Other Land,” which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary earlier this year, depicts the struggles of local residents.

The film has received multiple international awards and drawn condemnation of Israeli policies.