Extremist settler charged with reckless homicide over death of Palestinian activist
More than a year after deadly clash at Umm al-Khair, state says Yinon Levy killed Awdah Hathaleen, as seen in footage from slain activist’s phone
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Yinon Levy, an extremist settler activist, was indicted by the State Attorney’s Office on Thursday on a reckless homicide charge over the killing of Palestinian civil rights activist Awdah Hathaleen during a confrontation in the southern West Bank village of Umm al-Khair on July 28, 2025.
He faces a maximum of 12 years in prison if convicted.
Levy, who runs an illegal farming outpost and a construction contracting business in the southern West Bank, has been sanctioned by several countries for coordinating violence and harassment against Palestinians in the area.
Prosecutors alleged that while constructing a new neighborhood in the settlement of Carmel, Levy gave orders to break through a fence onto private property in Umm al-Khair, which led to a confrontation at the site, during which Levy shot “toward the area in which people were present, which caused the death of Awdah Hathaleen.”
According to the indictment, after Levy instructed a backhoe driver to create a new path on private land in Umm al-Khair, villagers tried to block the machine’s path, but the operator struck one of the protesters with the digger, wounding him in his head and shoulder.
Levy insisted that the operator continue digging the new path, leading to further confrontations between him and protesters, some of whom threw rocks at the backhoe, breaking its front mirror and driver-side window.
ינון לוי יורה לעבר פלסטינים בכפר אום אל־ח'יר, היום
קרדיט: שימוש לפי סעיף 27א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/LMYTcPGufq— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) July 28, 2025
Levy then drew his pistol and shot one round parallel with the ground in the general direction of Umm al-Khair, which struck and killed Hathaleen, who was standing some 20 meters away from Levy inside a village courtyard, filming the incident.
In footage from the clash, Levy could be seen standing in front of the excavator, waving a gun. Separate footage, shot by Hathaleen himself, shows Levy pointing a gun toward the activist, who falls to the ground.
In video footage obtained by B’Tselem, filmed by al-Hathaleen himself, Levi is seen shooting at him. The footage is immediately cut off as the injured al-Hathaleen collapsed.
Awdah al-Hathaleen, a human rights activist and resident of the village of Umm al-Kheir in the South… pic.twitter.com/uzyArwY02a
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) August 10, 2025
Levy was also charged with one count of trespassing while armed and one count of malicious damage.
He has claimed in court that he was acting in self-defense and that Hathaleen was killed by bullets from another gun.
Following the shooting, the IDF declared a closed military zone in Umm al-Khair, expelled mourners for Hathaleen and disrupted efforts to bury his body, demanding that his family accept conditions such as limiting his funeral to 15 people before the army returned his remains.
Hathaleen, 31, was a lifelong resident of Umm al-Khair who frequently worked with Israeli activists in efforts to document encroachments on the village and violence by extremist settlers.
The activist had been featured in “No Other Land,” a 2024 Oscar-winning documentary about Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in the Masafer Yatta enclave south of Hebron.
In February, when the State Attorney’s Office announced its intention to prosecute Levy for reckless homicide, Hathaleen’s family welcomed the news but said the charge was insufficient, with the activist’s brother characterizing his death as “an intentional killing in broad daylight, with prior intent and premeditation.”
Levy is the founder of nearby illegal farming outpost Meitarim Farms. The construction and demolition company that he owns that is subcontracted by the IDF to carry out demolitions of illegal Palestinian construction in the West Bank. Levy has also performed demolition work for the army in Gaza City amid the war in the Strip.
Civil rights organizations have repeatedly accused Levy of using Meitarim Farms as a base from which he and young settler extremists intimidate and attack local Palestinian communities such as Khirbet Zanuta, whose residents fled their homes in October 2023 in the face of such harassment.
Levy has been sanctioned by Canada, the UK, and the European Union for violence against Palestinians, and was also placed under sanctions by the Biden administration, although those sanctions were lifted by current US President Donald Trump.
The Times of Israel Community.