Oscars organiser The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has apologised following criticism for its failure to support the detained Palestinian Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal.
Nearly 700 voting members, including several A-Listers, signed an open letter rebuking the body.
It comes after Ballal, who co-directed the documentary No Other Land and won an Academy Award earlier this month, said he was detained by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank and later released.
The Academy's initial response on Wednesday did not mention Ballal by name, but it has since issued an apology, according to the BBC.
"We sincerely apologise to Mr Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the Academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world," the statement read.
"We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances."
An open letter signed by actors, producers, and documentary filmmakers criticised the initial statement.
"It is indefensible for an organisation to recognise a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later," it read.
The statement also condemned the "brutal assault and unlawful detention" of the Oscar winner.
"The targeting of Ballal is not just an attack on one filmmaker - it is an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths," it read.
"We will continue to watch over this film team. Winning an Oscar has put their lives in increasing danger, and we will not mince words when the safety of fellow artists is at stake."
High-profile actors who signed the letter included Mark Ruffalo, Olivia Colman, Emma Thompson, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Joaquin Phoenix, and Penélope Cruz.
No Other Land, a film about Israeli displacement of a Palestinian community, is co-directed by Palestinian and Israeli directors.
Israeli settlers allegedly assaulted Ballal in the occupied West Bank before he was detained by the Israeli military, according to two of his fellow directors and other witnesses.
Co-director Basel Adra said he had witnessed the detention and saw the soldiers lead Ballal, handcuffed and blindfolded, from his home and into a military vehicle.
He said settlers entered Ballal's village on Monday evening shortly after residents broke the daily fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"We came back from the Oscars and every day since there is an attack on us. This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment," Adra told the Associated Press.
Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya, according to the lawyer Lea Tsemel, who is representing them.
The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a "violent confrontation" between Israelis and Palestinians - a claim witnesses interviewed by the Associated Press disputed.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Israeli settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
The settlements have expanded over the past 55 years, becoming a focal point for violence and conflicting claims over land.
European countries and the previous US administration of President Joe Biden have imposed sanctions on violent Israeli settlers, but under President Donald Trump, the White House has removed them.
Source: Press Association, Reuters
