Awdah Hathleen, a Palestinian activist who worked on the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, was fatally shot by an Israeli settler on Monday.
The 31-year-old English teacher taught at Al-Saray'a Secondary School in Masafer Yatta's Albadawiya-Albadawiya neighbourhood, in Hebron's southern West Bank.
Basel Adra, the Palestinian director of No Other Land, posted a photo of himself and Hathleen on X, writing, “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening. He was standing in front of the community centre 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.”
He was a father to three young children—the eldest only six years old.
Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, co-director of the documentary No Other Land, shared footage online on Monday evening that appeared to show a well-known Israeli settler firing a gun toward Palestinians at the scene, Maktoob Media reported.
The man seen in the video was identified as Yinon Levi, a settler previously sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union in 2024 for repeated acts of violence against Palestinians and their property. However, those sanctions were reportedly lifted by the Trump administration earlier this year.
+972 Magazine referred to Awdah Hathaleen, as a colleague and longtime contributor. His death occurred as the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem released a damning report accusing Israel of engaging in acts of genocide against Palestinians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The organisation highlighted what it described as a dramatic increase in daily assaults by settlers, many of whom are said to be armed and wearing full military gear, targeting Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
In June, Hathaleen and his cousin Eid were held at San Francisco International Airport as they were set to embark on an interfaith speaking tour arranged by the California-based Kehilla Community Synagogue. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023.