Extremist settler accused of killing Palestinian civil rights activist indicted on charge of reckless homicide

Yinon Levy, an extremist settler activist, has been indicted by the State Attorney’s Office on a charge of reckless homicide 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 runs an illegal farming outpost and a construction contracting business in the southern West Bank, and has been sanctioned by several countries for coordinating violence and harassment against Palestinians in the area.

According to prosecutors, 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 “towards 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.

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, prosecutors say.

Levy is also charged with one count of trespass while armed, and one count of malicious damage.

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.