Awdah

Awdah Hathaleen a Palestinian community leader who was a consultant on the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” died Monday after an Israeli settler allegedly shot him to death in the occupied West Bank.

“No Other Land” filmmaker and subject Yuval Abraham announced his colleague’s death Monday, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “[Hathaleen] just died. Murdered.” Two hours prior, Abraham shared video of the confrontation that led to Hathaleen’s death. In the video, the settler in a dark shirt can be seen shoving people in a group, pulling out and pointing his pistol in their direction. The video shows him firing at people off-screen.

In the caption of his video, Abraham writes that the settler “just shot” Hathaleen in the lungs and identified the shooter as Yinon Levi. Levi was among the 13 hard-line Israeli settlers targeted last year by international sanctions for their alleged attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the West Bank. President Trump lifted U.S. sanctions against the Israelis in January.

“This is him in the video firing like crazy,” Abraham tweeted.

The incident occurred in in the village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta region that was the focus of “No Other Land.” Hathaleen was rushed to a hospital in Israel, where he was pronounced dead, his family confirmed to the New York Times. He was 31.

According to multiple reports, Israeli police said they responded to the scene, detaining and arresting an Israeli citizen. Police did not identify the detainee they took in for questioning, and claimed “terrorists hurled rocks toward” the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel, according to CNN. Additionally, the Israeli military detained five Palestinians and two foreign tourists for their alleged involvement in Monday’s incident, the BBC reported.

The IDF did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation on Tuesday.

“No Other Land” filmmaker and Palestinian journalist Basel Adra on Tuesday tweeted video showing the attack from another angle. In this video, Levi is seen with the pistol in his right hand, smacking a person in front of him. The clip also sees Levi raising his right arm and firing off-screen. Adra says Levi “fires the bullet that took” Hathaleen’s life, adding in his caption that “the apartheid court decided to release him to house arrest.”

On Monday, Adra tweeted he was in disbelief about his friend’s death: “My dear friend Adwah was slaughtered this evening. He was standing in front of the community center in his village where a settler fired a bullet that pierced his chest and took his life. This is how Israel erases us — one life at a time.”

On Instagram, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence described Hathaleen as a well-known community figure: “an activist, artist, and teacher in the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta.” The activist group reminded Instagram followers that last month Hathaleen and another Palestinian man were denied entry, detained overnight and deported back to the West Bank when they arrived at the San Francisco International Airport.

“So many in our community knew Awdah, and gained so much by learning from him, and being his friend,” the organization said, concluding its statement with a call to action. “May Awdah’s memory be a revolution. May we see justice for Awdah, and justice for all Palestinians, within our lifetime.”

Earlier this year, Israeli settlers brutalized another member of the Oscar-winning “No Other Land” team. In March, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was beat in his head and stomach by settlers in the village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area. Palestinian residents said the settlers, some wearing masks, some carrying guns and some wearing military uniforms, attacked as residents were breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the Associated Press. Israeli military and police forces detained the filmmaker on suspicion of hurling rocks at IDF and police.

He was released a day later, with bruises on his face and blood on his clothes. As he recalled hearing “the voice of soldiers laughing at me,” his wife said she felt the international attention surrounding “No Other Land’s” Oscar win prompted settlers to “attack us more.” The harrowing documentary , which became the subject of controversy in Miami Beach earlier this year, documents Israel’s demolition of Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta and the displacement of their communities in favor of Israeli military training grounds.

Since Israel launched its war against Hamas nearly two years ago, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday. At least 77 were killed over the past 24 hours, most while seeking food.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank – Awdah Hathaleen was standing by a fence in the Umm al-Kheir community centre when he was shot in the chest by an Israeli settler on Monday.

The beloved 31-year-old activist and father of three fell to the ground as people rushed over to try to help him. Then an ambulance came out of the nearby illegal settlement of Carmel and took him away.

Israeli authorities have refused to release his body for burial, simply telling his family on Monday night that he had died, depriving them of the closure of laying him to rest immediately, as Islam dictates.

Mourning

Under the scorching sun of the South Hebron Hills, the people of Umm al-Kheir were joined by anti-occupation activists from all over the world – gathered in silence to mourn Awdah, who was a key figure in non-violent resistance against settler violence in Masafer Yatta.

They came together in the same yard where Awdah was standing when he was shot to death by Israeli settler Yinon Levi, who later said, “I’m glad I did it,” according to witnesses.

Rocks had been laid in a circle around Awdah’s blood on the ground, mourners stopping there as if paying their respects.

Around the circle, the elders sat in silence, waiting for news that didn’t arrive on whether Awdah’s body would be returned by the Israeli army.

There is a feeling of shock that Awdah, out of all people, was the one murdered in cold blood, his cousin Eid Hathaleen, 41, told Al Jazeera about his “truly beloved” relative.

“There was [nobody] who contributed as much to the community in Umm al-Kheir as Awdah,” Alaa Hathaleen, 26, Awdah’s cousin and brother-in-law, said.

“I can’t believe that tomorrow I will wake up and Awdah won’t be here.”

Awdah had three children – five-year-old Watan, four-year-old Muhammad, and seven-month-old Kinan – and he loved them above everything else in the world, several of his friends and relatives told Al Jazeera.

“He was a great father,” Alaa said. “The children would go to him more than to their mother.”

Awdah got married in 2019, Jewish Italian activist Micol Hassan told Al Jazeera over the phone. “His wedding was a beautiful occasion in 2019. We organised cars that came from all over Palestine [for it].

“He loved his children so much,” she continued. “Every time he put them to sleep, they cried and asked where their daddy was.”

Hassan, who has been barred from returning to the occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities, also fondly recalled how much Awdah loved coffee and how she would bring him packs of Italian coffee whenever she was able to get to Umm al-Kheir.

Awdah also loved football, playing it every chance he got, even though Umm al-Kheir’s facilities are badly degraded and all the villagers have is a paved yard with dilapidated goalposts.

In fact, Awdah’s last breaths were on that same battered football pitch, possibly the one place in the village where he spent the most time.

No matter how bad settler attacks were, Alaa said, Awdah would sit down with him and discuss their projections and hopes for his favourite team, Spanish side Real Madrid.

“His love for Real Madrid ran in his veins,” Alaa added. “Maybe if they knew how much he loved them, Real Madrid would speak about Masafer Yatta.”

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.

Everyone who spoke to Al Jazeera remembers him as the kindest person, with a brave, peaceful heart.

He was “tayyeb, salim”, they said, using the Arabic words for “kind” and “peaceful”.

Awdah would tell anyone who came to Umm al-Kheir that he didn’t choose to be an activist; it just happened, Hassan told Al Jazeera, adding that he welcomed everyone, regardless of faith or citizenship.

“He was a radical humanist,” she said.

“He wanted the occupation to end without suffering,” said Alaa, adding that Awdah always thought about what the future would bring for his children and others.

He chose to become an English teacher because of that, Eid told Al Jazeera. 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.

“He taught all his students to love and welcome everyone regardless of their faith and origin,” said Eid.

A group of his students – he taught English from grades one through nine in the local school – huddled together in the community centre yard among the mourners, remembering their teacher.

“He would always try to make classes fun,” said Mosab, nine years old.

“He made us laugh,” added his classmate Mohammed, 11.

Murdered by a raging settler

Umm al-Kheir is one of more than 30 villages and hamlets in the West Bank’s Masafer Yatta, a region that, more than any, has seen the consequences of the expansion of settlements and violence linked to it.

The incident that led up to Awdah’s killing began the day before, recounted activist Mattan Berner-Kadish, who had been in Umm al-Kheir providing protective presence to the Palestinian community.

A digger was to be delivered to the illegal settlement, and the villagers had agreed to coordinate the passage of the machinery with the settlers, to prevent any damage to village infrastructure.

But the settler driving the machinery ran over a water pipe and began rolling over other infrastructure, threatening to roll into the town and cause more damage.

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.

An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter. This is him in the video firing like crazy. pic.twitter.com/xH1Uo6L1wN

— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025

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.

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.

Also on Tuesday, Levi was released to house arrest by Israeli courts, which charged him with negligent homicide.

Levi was sanctioned by Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States for violent attacks on Palestinians.

The five Hathaleen men arrested after Awdah was killed are still in Israeli custody, Alaa told Al Jazeera.

Weeping, he fretted: “What if [the Israelis] return [Awdah’s] body and they can’t pay their last tribute to them?”