On July 28, Palestinian activist, journalist, and teacher Awdah Hathaleen was shot dead by Israeli settler Yinon Levi in Umm al-Khair, a village in the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank. Israeli police arrested Levi, who was previously sanctioned by the Biden administration for extremist violence and coercion towards Palestinian civilians and property. Levi was released the next day under house arrest. 

Hathaleen, 31, father of three, was a consultant for the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land (2024), which chronicles the deleterious legacy and enactment of settler colonialism in the occupied West Bank. He was shot following an altercation with Israeli settlers who were bulldozing a path in Umm al-Khair, destroying property and trees. A resident, Hathaleen’s cousin Ahmad, ran to block the bulldozer and was knocked down by its blade. When residents began throwing stones, Levi emerged with a pistol and began firing.

Yuval Abraham, co-director of No Other Land, posted a clip on X of Levi shoving and brawling with Palestinians and firing twice at off-screen targets. As a result of the confrontation, Hathaleen was struck in the chest. 

Basel Adra, another of the film’s co-directors, mourns Hathaleen on his social media. Adra writes, “I can hardly believe it. My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening . . . This is how Israel erases us—one life at a time.”

Levi was among four Israeli settlers sanctioned by the Biden administration in February 2024. In January 2025, President Trump revoked the restrictions, which included financial embargoes and visa bans, removing the accused individuals from the sanctions list. Levi could still face charges, but as of Thursday, Hathaleen’s family had yet to recover his body from Israeli police.

In March 2025, Hamdan Ballal, another co-director of No Other Land, was attacked and beaten by Israeli settlers and soldiers in his village, Susiya, also located in Masafer Yatta. Ballal was detained overnight at a military base, blindfolded for over 20 hours, and kicked and punched by soldiers, who said Ballal’s name and the word “Oscar.”

As reported in ArtReview, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din determined that “only 3% of [investigations between 2005 and 2024 into ideologically motivated crime against Palestinians in the West Bank has] led to a full or partial conviction.” Despite copious documented instances of demolition and displacement, there has been scant record of accountability for Israeli settlers.

A day after the shooting, Palestinians and activists congregated in Umm al-Khair to grieve Hathaleen’s passing. Israeli soldiers arrived thereafter, breaking up the gathering by force and deploying stun grenades.

The Guardian reports that Israeli police stated they are withholding Hathaleen’s body until his family agreed to 10 conditions. These include limiting the funeral to 15 people, and burying his body outside his birth village.