Israeli Army Blocks Journalists from Visiting Oscar-Winning Documentary Site in Masafer Yatta

Israeli forces prevented a group of international journalists from entering Palestinian villages in the West Bank featured in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, during a press tour on Monday organized by co-directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham.

The tour, arranged to highlight ongoing settler violence and Israeli military demolitions, aimed to take more than a dozen journalists to At-Tuwani, Adra’s home village in the Masafer Yatta region—an area long contested and under threat of forced evacuation.

Army Confrontation Captured on Video

Footage shared by the directors on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) shows a masked Israeli soldier confronting the group, warning that they had 10 minutes to leave or face legal consequences. The video underscores rising tensions between Israeli authorities and those attempting to document conditions in Palestinian areas.

“After the army destroyed a village and allowed settlers to invade it, they are now blocking our tour with dozens of international journalists,” Abraham posted.

In the video, Abraham is heard telling the soldier:
“They’re coming to see the destruction in Masafer Yatta. The way that you are destroying the community. The settler violence is dangerous.”

Adra, visibly frustrated, adds:
“They’re coming to my home in my village. Why don’t you stop the settlers when they burn homes and cars? Why only journalists holding cameras and phones?”

The soldier deflects the questions, stating the group was a “public disturbance” and would not be allowed to pass—whether on foot or in cars—citing “order” as the reason.

Masafer Yatta: A Region Under Siege

Masafer Yatta is a cluster of Bedouin villages, including At-Tuwani, Hafaweh, Mirkez, Jimba, and Susya, located in the southern Hebron Hills. Since the 1980s, Israel has designated much of this land as a military training zone, threatening the existence of local communities.

Despite this, illegal Israeli settlements such as Carmel and Ma’on have expanded nearby, intensifying the pressure on Palestinian residents through land seizures, demolitions, and frequent settler attacks.

Impact of No Other Land and Oscar Win

No Other Land, which premiered at Berlinale 2023, follows Adra’s documentation of the destruction in Masafer Yatta, and Abraham’s role as an Israeli journalist amplifying the story. The film won the Audience Award and the Berlinale Documentary Award, and later the Best Documentary Oscar, bringing international attention to the plight of the region.

However, instead of relief or progress, the aftermath of the win has reportedly seen an increase in settler violence and Israeli military operations. On May 5, the village of Khalet a-Daba was bulldozed by Israeli forces.

In March, just weeks after the Academy Awards, filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, one of the co-directors, was attacked by settlers near his village and later arrested and detained overnight by Israeli soldiers.

A Struggle for Visibility

The press tour was meant to give journalists firsthand insight into the situation on the ground, but the military’s obstruction has raised further questions about transparency and freedom of press in the region.

With international accolades unable to shield residents from escalating threats, the story of No Other Land continues to unfold—not only on film but in real-time resistance and documentation.