More than 60 Palestinian women organize a hunger strike to demand the release of the body of the activist and Palestinian English teacher Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot down last week in the village of Umm al-Kheir, south of Hebron in occupied West Bow.
Two women received medical treatment following collective action, which started on Thursday.
The group demands the unconditional release of the body of the 31 -year -old community leader who was a consultant for no other field, a documentary film that won an Oscar this year. Israeli police have set several conditions, including organizing a quick and calm burial at night outside the village, with no more than 15 people present.
The demonstrators also require the release of seven residents of Umm al -Kheir arrested by Israeli forces who remain in administrative detention – an almost judicial process under which the Palestinians are held without instill or trial.
Umm al-Kheir is part of Masafer Yatta, a chain of Palestinian hamlets located in the hills south of Hebron, where residents fought for decades to stay at home after Israel declared the region and Israeli military dismissal or the training area.
Iman Hathaleen, the cousin of Awdah, said that women aged 13 to 70 participated in the hunger strike. “Now, while I’m talking, I’m starving and going to,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune. “We will continue this until they release the body, so that we can honor it with the right Islamic tradition. We must cry as our religion told us.”
Awdah was taken by an ambulance to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva on July 28, where he was declared dead after being killed by an Israeli colonist. Police transferred his body to ABU Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jaffa for an autopsy, which was completed on Wednesday. They then refused to return the body unless the family accepts restrictive conditions on the funeral and the burial.
‘A tactic to break their mind’
Fathi Nimer, a researcher at the Al-Shabaka reflection group, said that Israel’s policy to refuse the body of a Palestinian was a common practice. “It is not an isolated incident; there are hundreds of Palestinians whose bodies are used as negotiation crisits so that their families stop any type of activism or resistance or to break the spirit of resistance,” Nimer told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Awdah was very liked in the village, so it’s a tactic to break their minds,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yinon Levi, the Israeli colonist accused of firing the deadly shots, was released after spending a few days under residence. A video of the incident filmed by local activists shows Levi’s opening fire on Awdah, who died of a ball injury to his chest.
An Israeli colonist has just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film any other land in Masafer Yatta. Residents have identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and the United States, as the shooter. He’s in the video firing like crazy. pic.twitter.com/xh1uo6l1wn
– Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025
Umm al-Kheir residents documented Levi’s return to the region on Monday. Shared photos on social media groups represented him to supervise Bulldozer work alongside the army officers at the Carmel colony nearby.
Levi is one of several Israeli settlers from the occupied West Bank who were previously sanctioned by the former administration of the American president Joe Biden for having perpetrated violence against the Palestinians.
US President Donald Trump has denied these sanctions in a decree shortly after taking office for a second term in January. However, the United Kingdom and the European Union maintain sanctions against Levi.
Nimer said that the sanctions against individuals did not do much to stop the violence of the colonists and the expansion of the illegal outposts of Israel. “They are not only individuals-there must be real international actions to sanction Israel and stop all types of behavior,” he said.
A “continuous trauma”
Iman, the cousin of Awdah, said that Levi’s return made her worry about the security of his family. “Today, we are afraid of being back and doing it again, maybe he will shoot someone else,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune. His father, Suleiman Hathaleen, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2022.
Oneg Ben Dror, an activist based in Jaffa and friend of the Hathaleen family, said that the hunger strike was a desperate gesture for a community that has lost all hope of obtaining justice through legal means.
“Women believe that it is their way of protesting is a last resort to bring the body back,” she said. “The community needs the possibility of crying and … to start the recovery of this horrible murder.”
She added that the presence of Levi and other settlers on the field at Umm al-Kheir was a “continuous trauma and a nightmare for the community and for his wife”, which was widowed while treating three young children.
Dozens of Israeli and international activists on Sunday participated on Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Sunday to echo the requests expressed by hunger attackers. Four activists were arrested during demonstrations.
The United Nations office has reported 757 settlers against the Palestinians since January, up 13% compared to 2024, as death since January nearly 1,000.
The Israeli army has also intensified raids through the occupied West Bank and the demolition of hundreds of houses. On Monday, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the city of Qabatiya, south of Jenin. The Israeli municipality has also published a demolition order targeting the home of Palestinian residents of Silwan, in East Jerusalem-East.
The Palestinian authorities claim that 198 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, while 538 were killed in 2024. At least 188 bodies are still hidden by the Israeli authorities.