The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologised on Friday after hundreds of its members criticised it for not supporting Oscar-winner Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian who was recently detained by Israeli settlers.

The academy apologised for not “directly [acknowledging] Mr Ballal and the film by name”, after nearly 700 voting members, including multiple A-list actors, signed a letter critiquing them.

Mr Ballal is one of the co-directors of the documentary No Other Land, which won an Academy Award earlier this month.

He said earlier this week that he was attacked by Israeli settlers before being detained by the Israeli military. He was later released.

The academy initially responded to the incident on Wednesday, but it did not refer to Mr Ballal directly, which led to scrutiny from Hollywood.

The statement led to a rebuke from more than 700 voting members of the Academy with a letter. Those who signed included: Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Olivia Colman, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Thompson, Penélope Cruz and Richard Gere. Directors Jonathan Glazer and Ava DuVernay also signed it.

“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,” the letter said.

The letter noted how difficult it was to win an Oscar and the steep competition one faced to be acknowledged as a winner of the most prestigious honour in film globally. It said the film won without the typical pricey campaigns most films pay to win an award.

“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,” the letter said.

The Academy released a statement on Friday that named the director and apologised.

“We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr Ballal and the film by name,” the statement reads. “We sincerely apologize 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.

“We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”

Mr Ballal was freed one day after he was beaten by settlers and then taken by soldiers while in an ambulance, his co-director Yuval Abraham said earlier this week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied that claim. They said three Palestinians and an Israeli had been detained on suspicion of “rock hurling” at security forces.

No Other Land – which picked up best documentary at the 97th Academy Awards – follows the fight over Masafer Yatta, a community of about 20 villages, and the friendship between Adra and Abraham.