New video shows settler shot Palestinian dead during West Bank clash, rights group says

The B’Tselem human rights organization on Sunday released new footage of the death of a Palestinian some two weeks ago during a clash with a settler, saying it showed that Yinon Levi had shot Awdah Hathaleen.

Hathaleen, a resident of Umm al-Kheir in the southern West Bank, was killed on July 28 in his village in the South Hebron Hills, as locals clashed with Levi.

Levi is a figure well-known to human rights monitors and sanctioned by the UK, the EU, and, previously, the US under the Biden administration for alleged extremist acts against Palestinians. Levi, who runs an illegal farming outpost in the area, maintains that he acted in self-defense after being attacked by a group of Palestinians throwing rocks at him, and has challenged the allegation that he fired the fatal shot at Hathaleen.

Levi was arrested by police after the incident on suspicion of negligent homicide, but was released on August 1 to house arrest and a court later freed him entirely, saying evidence that he had fired at Hathaleen had weakened. On August 4, he returned to overseeing construction work on a new neighborhood in the Carmel settlement, adjacent to the village of Umm al-Kheir.

The newly issued footage was filmed by Hathaleen himself moments before his death, B’Tselem said.

In it, Levi is seen confronting Palestinians amid the construction work. After several people positioned between Levi and Hathaleen are seen throwing stones, Levi fires toward the camera. The person filming appears to cry out and fall to the ground, and the recording then ends.

Graphic footage

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

Another video from the scene, which was filmed much closer to Levi, shows Levi and several Palestinians standing on the road, with the bulldozer behind him. Palestinians are heard cursing Levi, calling him a “son of a bitch” and “thief.” Seconds in, someone off-camera throws a stone at the bulldozer. Levi then scuffles with a man in a blue shirt and later with the person filming.

Levi asks, “Who’s throwing stones?” and fires once off-camera, in the direction of the Palestinians. Seconds later, he fires again, slightly upward and toward the group, while shouting, “Go, move away from here.”

Sixteen Palestinians were arrested in the days following the shooting, all on suspicion of stone-throwing. As of August 4, a total of four Palestinians remain in custody out of the 16 who were arrested.

On August 7, a week and a half after Hathaleen’s death, the Israeli military returned the body to his family for burial. Women from the village had staged a hunger strike over several days demanding the return of his body. According to Hathaleen’s family, the army conditioned the return of the body on holding a limited funeral away from the village.

An area resident told The Times of Israel that he tried to enter Umm al-Kheir in order to attend the funeral, but was blocked by the Israeli army because he was not a resident of the village.

Hathaleen, 31, worked on the Oscar-winning documentary film “No Other Land,” which focuses on the efforts of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta — a string of hamlets including Umm al-Khair — to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their homes. Hathaleen was a well-known figure in the West Bank activist community.