A Palestinian activist whose footage documenting life under Israeli occupation was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” was shot and killed Monday during a confrontation with Israeli settlers, the New York Times reported.
Video footage shot by 31-year-old Awdah Hathaleen, a journalist from the small village of Umm al-Khair in the southern West Bank, helped shape “No Other Lan,” a 2024 documentary that won Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards earlier this year. The film was co-directed by Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham.
Hathaleen was fatally wounded near his home during the clash with settlers and pronounced dead at an Israeli hospital, his family told the Times. Israeli police detained Yinon Levi, a settler who owns an unauthorized outpost near Hebron, on suspicion of reckless conduct resulting in death and unlawful use of a firearm.
Levi’s lawyer had argued that his client fired his weapon in self-defense after being confronted by Palestinians throwing stones, and a judge released him Tuesday to house arrest. The Times reported that it had verified a video in which Levi is seen waving a gun as he tussles with a Palestinian; stones fly overhead before Levi cocks his pistol and fires.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Levi earlier this year, citing repeated acts of violence and intimidation against Palestinians. Levi, who runs an earthworks company, has reportedly worked alongside Israeli military to bulldoze Palestinian structures.
“I can hardly believe it,” Adra wrote on his X account. “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening.He was standing in front of the community center in his village when a settler fired a bullet that pierced his chest and took his life. This is how Israel erases us — one life at a time.”
Roughly 2.7 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, alongside about 500,000 Israeli settlers. Though both populations live under Israeli control, settlers are generally subject to civilian law, while Palestinians remain under military rule.
