On 28 July 2025, Awdah (Awdeh) Hathaleen, a 31-year-old Palestinian teacher and activist from Umm al‑Khair in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron, was shot dead by an Israeli settler identified as Yinon Levi during confrontations over land and bulldozing efforts

Hathaleen was a peace activist, co-director of "The Good Shepherd" ONG. He had contributed to the Oscar‑winning documentary No Other Land, which chronicles the struggle of Palestinian communities facing forced displacement in Masafer Yatta

The settler, allegedly under prior US sanctions (later removed), was filmed firing a handgun into the crowd after Palestinians tried pacifically to block the destruction of olive groves and a water pipeline, including an attempt to halt bulldozer activity on their land.

Yinon Levi was filmed shoting indiscriminately; Hathaleen was not taking part in the clash and was struck in the chest from a distance.

Following the murder, the Israeli army arrested five men from the Hathaleen family. On Tuesday, the Israeli army closed the area around Umm al-Kheir, restricting any access to it.

Beginning of the event

Mattan Berner-Kadish, a Palestinian rights activist with dual Israeli-American citizenship, is one of Awdah Hathaleen’s friends. He was present during the July 28 attack that led to Awdah’s death. According to him, the incident began peacefully on July 27,when the machine—the bulldozer—arrived for the first time. "The settlers and the security chief of the settlement told us it would be used exclusively on land they occupy, in an olive grove that we had planted. When the bulldozer was dropped off and parked, it was left on the main road, and it damaged part of that road. So the Palestinians suggested that the next morning, the day the incident happened, they would bring spare wheels they had—like many villages do—and place them underneath so the bulldozer would roll over them and not damage the road. Then on Monday, there were further discussions because the settlers were planning to build a road in the area where water and electricity currently pass through for the village. There were conversations between the settlement’s security chief and the villagers. But it didn’t seem overly dramatic. All of a sudden, my friend Ahmed shouted to me: ‘Come, come, come!’ because the bulldozer had started moving and crushed the sewage pipe that marks the boundary between private Palestinian land and the land occupied by the State [of Israel], and it continued moving forward onto Palestinian land, destroying all the trees and demolishing the pipeline. So Ahmed and I tried to stand in front of it. A few others tried too. We were filming. The driver didn’t stop and swung the front part—the digging arm—and it hit my friend Ahmed on the shoulder and neck. He fell.”

A video published on X on July 28, 2025, shows Palestinian activists from Umm al-Khair trying to block a bulldozer belonging to Israeli settlers. At 0:02 in the video, the arm of the bulldozer strikes one of the activists on the shoulder.

“A nurse and two activists arrived. One of them was trained as a paramedic, and I was helping him by translating. Then he asked me to go get some water. And during that time, I heard a ‘boom’ that I thought was a stun grenade. I went to get water, and I saw Awdah lying on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound.”

Another video posted on X on July 28, 2025, shows a confrontation between Yinon Levi and residents of Umm al-Khair. The settler fires a pistol twice—at 0:16 and 0:21 in the footage. According to villagers, one of the bullets killed Awdah Hathaleen, the activist and teacher.

“So I ran toward Yinon Levi, the settler. I begged him: ‘Please don’t shoot anyone else. Calm down.’ I told him: ‘You just killed someone!’ And he replied: ‘And I’m glad. I’m happy I did it.’ After that, we just tried to calm things down. We managed to get ambulances. I tried to get into the ambulance with Awdah. They wouldn’t let me in.”

Testimony of activist Berner-Kadish for Al Jazeera

When villagers gathered to try to stop the machinery, the operator used the digger’s claw to hit one of them in the head, dropping him to the ground, semi-conscious. Awdah was 10-15 metres (30-50 feet) away from the altercation, standing in the community centre yard, looking on. In the chaos, gunshots started ringing out, and Berner-Kadish saw Yinon Levi shooting at people. Amid the screams and panic, he realised that Awdah had been shot. He tried to calm Levi down, telling him that he had directly shot someone and likely killed him. To which Levi responded: “I’m glad I did it.” Berner-Kadish also tried to talk to the Israeli soldiers who arrived on the scene, only to hear from three of them that they wished they had been the ones to shoot Awdah.

The perpetrator:

Yinon Levi is the founder of Meitarim Farms, an illegal outpost in the South Hebron Hills. He also owns a construction and demolition company which is subcontracted by the IDF to carry out demolitions in the West Bank of illegal Palestinian construction. Levi has also been working in Gaza City, doing demolition work for the army there.

Has been accused by rights groups of using his farm as a base for intimidation and settler violence, including displacing entire communities like Khirbet Zanuta.

Levi is among several West Bank settlers who were placed under economic sanctions by the former administration of former US president Joe Biden for perpetrating violence against Palestinians. President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions, but sanctions imposed by Canada, the UK, and the European Union remain in place.

Israeli forces involvement in the impunity climate

Israeli police arrested Levi for questioning; he was subsequently placed under house arrest—assigned to a farm under supervision for 21 days—and forbidden from contact with witnesses.

Israeli forces abducted the body of Awdah Halatheen, a common practice used when Israeli soldiers execute Palestinians ni West Bank. They prevent the mourning and the religious funerals and increased the grief of families and communities. Some body held by Isreli authorities were never bring back to the families.

Later during the day, the Israeli forces raided the mourning tent, declared the area a military zone, expelled mourners, and arrested several villagers (14 ùeùbers of the halatheen family) and two international activists present during the tragedy

The French Foreign Ministry condemned the killing as “acts of terrorism”**, marking the first time France used that term in reference to settler violence in the West Bank. They urged Israel to hold the perpetrator accountable.

Broader criticism has focused on widespread impunity enjoyed by Israeli settlers, especially those previously sanctioned by Western governments.

Context & Broader Background

Umm al‑Khair, where Hathaleen lived, faces frequent settler encroachments, demolition threats, and water supply sabotage, severely impacting community survival

Urgent appeal by the residents of Umm al-Khair

"To the international community, all human rights organizations, journalists and broad public: We inform you that in Khirbet Umm al-Kheir we are experiencing extremely difficult circumstances, as follows: • We have been prevented from receiving the body of our martyr and burying him until now. • Fourteen young men from have been arrested so far. • All journalists and international solidarity activists have been expelled from the village. • There is an insistence by the occupation forces on removing the martyr’s mourning tent and evacuating it. This is a message of appeal and clarification regarding the harsh conditions and real suffering we are experiencing. We kindly urge you to share our message across all platforms and through all means, so the world will know what is happening in Khirbet Umm al-Kheir—the suffering and the attempt to forcibly residents from their land.

Aftermath : the hunger strike of the women of Umm al-Khaïr

On July 31, more than 70 women aged between 13 and over 70 from the village of Umm al-Khair in the Yatta hills announced they are immediately starting a hunger strike, demanding the return of the body of Awdah Hathaleen, a resident of the village who was killed last Monday by a settler, while standing in the courtyard of the village community center.

Awdah Hathaleen's body is being held by Israel, and the police are imposing conditions for its release, including limiting the number of funeral participants to just 15, and requiring the burial to take place in a neighboring town—not in the village itself.

The women declared they would continue their hunger strike until the villager is returned and buried on his land, with his family able to accompany him on his final journey. The hunger strike is also a protest against the continued detention of six other villagers—Odeh’s brothers and cousins.

“The strike will continue until they return the body of the martyr Odeh to us—until they return Odeh, and also the boys they took for no reason. (…) They took 14 of our sons, and they want to imprison them, even though they did nothing wrong. (…) Our sons are our strength, they are our protection, they are the ones who keep us safe.”

The women also expressed outrage over the night raids carried out since the killing:

“They stormed into the home of the martyr’s wife, even though everyone knows she is in ‘Idah’, the four-month mourning period prescribed by Islam, during which a man is not allowed to see her—except for her brother, father, or close relatives permitted to do so. The army entered her bedroom nonetheless. The children started screaming. When the soldiers entered, they tried to break down the gate with a vehicle, to destroy it by force, to force the door open to get inside.”

The men of the village have announced that they too will join the hunger strike if Odeh’s body is not returned within 24 hours.

Impunity reinforced by the Jerusalem Court Decision:

On July 31, a Jerusalem court refused to extend Yinon Levi’s house arrest, citing weakened evidence and testimony supporting Levi’s claim that his gunshots may not have caused the death. Judge Chavi Toker ruled that the reasonable suspicion against Levi had weakened, based on testimony from Palestinian and international witnesses, which supported Levi’s claim that Hathaleen was at a distance when Levi fired his gun and the shots fired by Levi may not have caused the death. She pretends that the bullet that killed Hathaleen has not been found, and multiple conflicting witness accounts exist.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court rejected a police request to extend Yinon Levi’s house arrest beyond August 9. The court found Levi's danger to the public had decreased. But the judge approved a delay in releasing Levi to allow police time to appeal the decision.

Police planned to appeal the decision, arguing that more investigation is needed to determine if Levi acted lawfully. The body is always released by IDF and the family has not access to the alleged autopsy.

Several demos took place during a week in Tel Aviv as well as in West Bnak for the return of his body and the complete release of the family members detained by Israeli forces.

On Augustus 6, protesters gathered outside the Israeli Supreme Court, demanding the immediate return of Awdah Hathaleen’s body. The Supreme Court hearing has been postponed for 24 hours for the second time.

On Augustus 7, the body was returned without the initial condition imposed by the Israeli authorities. Despite this, Israeli soldiers declared the village a temporary military zone to prevent foreign or Israeli activists and friends from attending the funeral. However, hundreds of close friends and family members were able to be present and bid a final farewell to the beloved figure.

Who was Awdah Hathaleen

Considered locally and internationally as a peaceful activist and ‘radical humanist’, Awdah has been an activist since he was 17 years old, working to stop the Israeli attempts to expel the villagers of Masafer Yatta from their homes and lands. He hosted countless visiting activists who came to the occupied West Bank to support Palestinian activists and villagers, helping them understand the situation on the ground and embracing their presence with his trademark hospitality. Perhaps his most famous such collaboration was his work with Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, who co-directed No Other Land, a documentary film that won an Oscar award this year. Awdah would tell anyone who came to Umm al-Kheir that he didn’t choose to be an activist; it just happened. He was known to welcome everyone, regardless of faith or citizenship. He wanted the occupation to end without suffering. He chose to become an English teacher because he wanted the village children to grow up educated and able to tell the world their story in English, so they could reach more people.