Awdah Hathaleen (Credit: The Alliance for Middle East Peace via Facebook)
Funeral held for Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen killed by settler in West Bank
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered Thursday in the village of Umm al-Khair in the occupied West Bank to bury Awdah Hathaleen, a 31-year-old activist and filmmaker who was shot and killed by an 'Israeli' settler late last month.
The funeral came more than 11 days after his death, following 'Israeli' authorities’ decision to withhold his body and impose restrictions on the burial.
“He was killed by a hateful settler, his body was held for 11 days, and more than 20 people from the village were arrested,” said Aziz Hathaleen, Awdah’s brother, describing the events that followed the July 28 killing.
According to eyewitnesses and video footage shared online, the shooter was identified as Yinon Levy, a settler who has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom. While he was briefly detained, he was released the next day.
“The settler accused of the fatal shooting was released at that very moment,” Aziz told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Awdah Hathaleen was known internationally through his involvement in No Other Land, a documentary that won Best Documentary at the 2025 Oscars. The film chronicles the daily struggles of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, a cluster of villages in the southern West Bank, including Umm al-Khair, against home demolitions and settler expansion.
Read more: Palestinian-"Israeli" documentary ‘No Other Land’ wins an Oscar
'Israeli' authorities placed conditions on the funeral, according to relatives. “The first condition was that he not be buried in the area at all, and the second was that no mourning tent be set up,” said Ibrahim Hathaleen, another relative of the deceased. He added that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) initially blocked the family from retrieving the body.
An AFP journalist at the scene reported a heavy IOF presence around the village, with checkpoints preventing some Palestinians and foreign activists from entering. Despite these measures, around 100 mourners made it to the funeral, many visibly emotional as they said their final goodbyes and performed prayers at the village mosque.
The killing comes amid heightened tensions in the West Bank, where violence has surged since the onset of the war on Gaza in October 2023. According to Palestinian sources, at least 968 Palestinians have been killed by the IOF or settlers in the West Bank during that period.
