On July 28, Awdah Hathaleen, an English teacher and advocate for a free Palestine, was shot and killed. At the time, he was documenting Israeli settlers using bulldozers in the south Hebron hills. The event has led to international condemnation. This rage is compounded by the role of defender Yinon Levi, a settler who has already been sanctioned for his violent action against Palestinians.
Hathaleen, who resided in Umm al-Khair, was proactively exposing settler activities. He was shot, tragically and brutally, from more than 40 yards away, behind a metal fence. Eyewitnesses reported that he was in touch with his home office, actively filming the scene when he was assaulted. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem shared video footage of the fatal shooting. This video provides the most important proof of the unfolding tragedy.
On the day of that encounter, while Hathaleen was recording, Levi came onto the space packing a handgun. Alaa Hathaleen, Awdah’s brother-in-law, witnessed the shooting and gave the eyewitness account. Describing the events in the days before the shooting, he said, “The settler Yinon Levi came. The crowd began yelling at him, and he pulled out his gun. I attempted to record him pulling the gun out, but he physically assaulted me and snatched my phone.
Alaa was present inside DMC when Levi shot at protesters. He related, “All of a sudden, when we were still trying to get people away and the excavator was already on the road going towards the settlement, Yinon Levi shot once, shot twice.”
After the shooting, Levi was arrested but later released by a circuit court that found the evidence against him lacking. The court noted that the inferring that Levi fired specifically at Hathaleen had “diminished.” That defense attorney, Avichai Hajbi, claimed Levi killed Mohammed in self-defense. He claimed that Levi believed his life was in immediate danger and was forced to discharge his weapon into the air.
The brutal killing of Awdah Hathaleen has rightfully triggered widespread outrage and calls for justice. Hathaleen was a firebrand, take-no-prisoners activist, fighter for justice and equality. He produced the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” further proof of his commitment to giving voice to the Palestinian experience.
In 2024, Levi was penalized by the UK and EU for his history of violent attacks on Palestinians. Her arrest has raised alarm over the treatment of Palestinian activists. More than focusing on this specific incident, it illustrates the terrible impacts of settler violence in occupied territories in general.