An Israeli colonist killed and killed the Palestinian activist and teacher Awdah Hathaleen in a village near Hebron in an occupied West Bank, said local officials and journalists.
Hathaleen was well known for his activism, in particular by helping the creators of the Oscar -winning film without other land, which documents the Israeli colonists and the soldiers attack against the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta.
He “was killed by settlers … During their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair”, in Masafer Yatta, wrote the Palestinian Authority on social networks on Monday.
The two filmmakers behind any other field – Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian journalist Basel Adra – also confirmed that the activist had been shot.
“My dear friend Awdah was killed tonight,” Adra wrote on social networks. “He stood in front of the community center of his village when a colonist shot a bullet which pierced his chest and took his life,” he said.
“This is how Israel erases us – a life at the same time.”
The co-director Abraham described Hathaleen as “a remarkable activist who did not help us film any other land in Masafer Yatta”.
Abraham also published a video of the incident and said that “residents have identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and the United States, as the shooter”.
“He’s in the video firing like crazy,” said Abraham.
Odeh has just died. Murdered.
– Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025
Israeli police admitted to investigating an “incident near Carmel (al-Karmil)”, an illegal Israeli colony Umm al-Khair.
“An Israeli citizen was detained on the scene and then arrested by police for interrogation,” a police statement said.
Israeli soldiers also arrested four Palestinians “as part of the incident, as well as two foreign tourists who were on the scene,” said the police.
“Following the incident, the death of a Palestinian was confirmed; his exact involvement in the incident is being verified,” added the police.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that a second Palestinian had been injured in the attack after being beaten by a colonist. He was transported to hospital by ambulance, added Wafa.
Hathaleen was from Masafer Yatta, a chain of Palestinian hamlets located in the hills south of Hebron, where residents are fighting for decades to stay at home after Israel said the region and the “training zone” or the Israeli military training area.
Their efforts to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their houses have not been the subject of any other land, which won the best documentary at the Oscars in March.
The murder of Hathaleen comes as the Israeli Human Rights Organization B’tselem published a report accusing Israel on Monday of having committed a genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
B’tselem also said that there was an “unprecedented peak in the daily attacks of settlers, often armed and equipped with complete military equipment, on the Palestinians in the West Bank”.
“These attacks include criminal fire, theft, home invasions and control, armed threats, tobacco passages, etc.
About 3 million Palestinians live in occupied West Bank, alongside almost half a million Israelis living in colonies, which are illegal under international law.
Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Mohammad Samer Suleiman, 27, succumbed to his injuries after being killed by Israeli forces during a checkpoint at the northern entrance to the Hebron on Monday evening, the WAFA news agency reported. Israeli forces left Suleiman al-Jamal to bleed to death and prevented the ambulance teams from reaching it, Wafa added.
The Israeli soldiers and settlers killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the War of Israel against Gaza in October 2023. More than 30 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in the occupied West Bank during the same period.
